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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6135-h.zip b/6135-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b048087 --- /dev/null +++ b/6135-h.zip diff --git a/6135-h/6135-h.htm b/6135-h/6135-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f5c6c3 --- /dev/null +++ b/6135-h/6135-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7015 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> + +<head> +<title>WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME.</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + h1,h2,h3,h4 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold } + h1 { margin-top: 2em } + p.smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + --> +</style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of When the Holy Ghost is Come, by S. L. Brengle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: When the Holy Ghost is Come + +Author: S. L. Brengle + +Posting Date: September 22, 2012 [EBook #6135] +Release Date: July, 2004 +First Posted: November 17, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME.</h1> + +<p align='center'>BY</p> + +<h2>COLONEL S. L. BRENGLE,</h2> + +<h3>Edited by BRAMWELL BOOTH.</h3> + +<a name="foreword"></a> +<h1>Foreword.</h1> + +<p>The Salvation Army, contrary to what has often been +thought by +surface observers, has owed its existence, its strength, +and its +success chiefly to our careful attention to the profoundest<br> +questions of the soul.</p> + +<p>And still, as always, we wish to urge upon all the +study of those +great practical truths, without the proclamation of +which our +work for men would cease to have any abiding value. +We glory in +the knowledge of Christ as a perfect Saviour just +as much for +this, our own time, as for any past generation, or +for any +generation yet to come. The pretence that this age +has reached +some superior development, whether mental or moral, +for which a +new kind of Saviour is needed, seems to us absurd. +And we do not +believe it can long endure where Christ is really +known.</p> + +<p>To the most thoughtful, therefore, as well as to those +who have +the least time for thought, I earnestly commend the +words of +devout and practical men upon those great questions, +which I hope +to see reproduced in the series of which the present +volume is +the first. Prayerful reading of their messages cannot +but lead to +immediate action, to a complete self-abandonment to +God, and to a +realizing faith in His power to use every one of His +sons and +daughters for the healing of the world’s open +sores and the +triumph of His Rule.</p> + +<p>BRAMWELL BOOTH. LONDON, January, 1909.</p> + +<h1>Contents.</h1> + +<p><a href="#foreword">Foreword</a></p> +<p><a href="#preface">Preface</a></p> + +<ol style="list-style-type: upper-roman"> +<li><a href="#chapter1">Who Is He?</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter2">Preparing His House</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter3">Is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit a Third Blessing?</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter4">The Witness of the Spirit</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter5">Purity</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter6">Power</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter7">Trying the Spirits</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter8">Guidance</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter9">The Meek and Lowly Heart</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter10">Hope</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter11">The Holy Spirit’s Substitute for Gossip and Evil-Speaking</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter12">The Sin Against the Holy Ghost</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter13">Offences Against the Holy Ghost</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter14">The Holy Spirit and Sound Doctrine</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter15">Praying in the Spirit</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter16">Characteristics of the Anointed Preacher</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter17">Preaching</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter18">The Sheathed Sword: A Law of the Spirit</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter19">Vicotry through the Holy Spirit Over Suffering</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter20">The Overflowing Blessing</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter21">Importance of the Doctrine and Experience of Holiness to Spiritual Leaders</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter22">Victory Over Evil Temper by the Power of the Holy Spirit</a></li> +</ol> + +<a name="preface"></a> +<h1>Preface.</h1> + +<p>It is no small pleasure to me to commend this book +to all who love God, and in particular to those who +are labouring to serve Him in the ranks of The Salvation +Army. I believe that it will prove useful in the most +important ways—­in its bearing, that is, +upon many of the practical difficulties and problems +of daily life.</p> + +<p>The writer, Colonel Brengle, gives us not only of +the fruit of an orderly and well-stored mind on the +great subject before us, but—­ and this +is the more important—­he tells us of the +actual work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of ordinary +men and women, as he has witnessed the results of +that work amidst his many labours for the Salvation +and Holiness of the people. It is for them he writes. +It is to them, living the common life, bound to others +by the obligations of ordinary social intercourse, +toiling at their secular occupations, and rubbing +shoulders with the multitude in the market-place, +that his message comes. I venture to hope that his +words will make it plain to some of them that the highest +intercourse with the Divine is their privilege; that +the special province of the Holy Ghost is to lead +men into the truest devotion to God, and to the advancement +of His Kingdom on earth, even while they are carrying +on the common avocations associated with earning their +daily bread.</p> + +<p>The only purpose of God having a practical bearing +on our lives is His purpose to save men from sin and +its awful consequences, and make them conform to His +will in this world as in the next. The work of the +Holy Spirit is to help us to achieve that purpose. +Without His help we are unable to overcome the difficulties +that are in the way, whether we consider them from +the standpoint of the world or of the individual. If +anyone could have looked at the state of the world +at the time of our Lord’s death he would surely +have regarded the work which the Apostles were commissioned +to attempt as the most utterly wild and impracticable +enterprise that the human mind could conceive. And +it was so, but for one fact. That fact was the promise +of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be the great +Helper in the undertaking.</p> + +<p>And equally in the work of uniting the individual +soul with God’s purpose that Spirit is our Helper. +In the work of righteousness He is a Partner with +us. In the life of faith and prayer He is our unwavering +Prompter and Guide. In the submission of our wills +to God and the chastening of our spirits He is the +great Co-worker with us. In the bearing of burdens +and the enduring of trial and sorrow He joins hands +with us to lead us on. In the purifying of every power +from the taint of sin He is our Sanctifier.</p> + +<p>All this is practical. It has to do with to-day—­with +every bit of to-day. In fact, so far from the sphere +of the Holy Spirit being limited to the pulpit or +the platform, or to the inward experiences of the +religious life, He is just as truly and properly concerned +with the affairs of the shop and the street, the nursery +and the kitchen, the chamber of suffering and the +home of penury, as with preaching the Gospel or healing +the sick.</p> + +<p>Now it is to lead its readers to a personal experience +of all this that this book has been written. No mere +intellectual assent to the truth it sets forth can +satisfy its author, any more than it can benefit his +readers. What he seeks, and what I join him in devoutly +asking of God, is that you, dear friend, who may take +this little volume into your hands, may see what an +infinite privilege is yours, and may begin to act +with God the Holy Ghost, and to open your whole being +to Him, that He may work with you.</p> + +<p><i>Bramwell Booth</i>.<br> +<i>London</i>, January, 1909.</p> + +<a name="chapter1"></a> +<h1>I.</h1> + +<h2>Who Is He?</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>On that last eventful evening in the upper room, just +after the Passover feast, Jesus spoke to His disciples +about His departure, and, having commanded them to +love one another, He besought them not to be troubled +in heart, but to hold fast their faith in Him, assuring +them that, though He was to die and leave them, He +was but going to the Father’s many-mansioned +house to prepare a place for them.</p> + +<p>But already they were troubled, for what could this +death and departure mean but the destruction of all +their hopes, of all their cherished plans? Jesus had +drawn them away from their fishing-boats, their places +of custom and daily employment, and inspired them +with high personal and patriotic ambitions, and encouraged +them to believe that He was the Seed of David, the +promised Messiah; and they hoped that He would cast +out Pilate and his hated Roman garrison, restore the +kingdom to Israel, and sit on David’s throne, +a King, reigning in righteousness and undisputed power +and majesty for ever. And then, were they not to be +His Ministers of State and chief men in His Kingdom?</p> + +<p>He was their Leader, directing their labours; their +Teacher, instructing their ignorance and solving their +doubts and all their puzzling problems; their Defence, +stilling the stormy sea and answering for them when +questioned by wise and wily enemies.</p> + +<p>They were poor and unlearned and weak. In Him was +all their help, and what would they do, what could +they do, without Him? They were without social standing, +without financial prestige, without learning or intellectual +equipment, without political or military power. He +was their All, and without Him they were as helpless +as little children, as defenceless as lambs in the +midst of wolves. How could their poor hearts be otherwise +than troubled?</p> + +<p>But then He gave them a strange, wonderful, reassuring +promise: He said, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments. +And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you +another Comforter, that He may abide with you for +ever” (John xiv. 15, 16). I am going away, but +Another shall come, who will fill My place. He shall +not go away, but abide with you for ever, and He “shall +be in you.” And later He added: “It is +expedient for you"—­that is, better for you-“that +I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will +not come.”</p> + +<p>Who is this other One—­this Comforter? He +must be some august Divine Person, and not a mere +influence or impersonal force, for how else could +He take and fill the place of Jesus? How else could +it be said that it was better to have Him than to have +Jesus remaining in the flesh? He must be strong and +wise, and tender and true, to take the place of the +Blessed One who is to die and depart. Who is He?</p> + +<p>John, writing in the Greek language, calls Him “Paraclete,” +but we in English call Him Comforter. But Paraclete +means more, much more than Comforter. It means “one +called in to help: an advocate, a helper.” The +same word is used of Jesus in i John ii. i: “We +have an Advocate,” a Paraclete, a Helper, “with +the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Just +as Jesus had gone to be the disciples’ Advocate, +their Helper in the Heavens, so this other Paraclete +was to be their Advocate, their Helper on earth. He +would be their Comforter when comfort was needed; but +He would be more; He would be also their Teacher, +Guide, Strengthener, as Jesus had been. At every point +of need there would He be as an ever-present and all-wise, +almighty Helper. He would meet their need with His +sufficiency; their weakness with His strength; their +foolishness with His wisdom; their ignorance with His +knowledge; their blindness and short-sightedness with +His perfect, all-embracing vision. Hallelujah! What +a Comforter! Why should they be troubled?</p> + +<p>They were weak, but He would strengthen them with +might in the inner man (Eph. iii. 16). They were to +give the world the words of Jesus, and teach all nations +(Matthew xxviii. 19, 20); and He would teach them +all things, and bring to their remembrance whatsoever +Jesus had said to them (John xiv. 26).</p> + +<p>They were to guide their converts in the right way, +and He was to guide them into all truth (John xvi. +13). They were to attack hoary systems of evil, and +inbred and actively intrenched sin, in every human +heart; but He was to go before them, preparing the +way for conquest, by convincing the world of sin, of +righteousness, and of judgment (John xvi. 8). They +were to bear heavy burdens and face superhuman tasks, +but He was to give them power (Acts i. 8). Indeed, +He was to be a Comforter, a Strengthener, a Helper.</p> + +<p>Jesus had been external to them. Often they missed +Him. Sometimes He was asleep when they felt they sorely +needed Him. Sometimes He was on the mountains, while +they were in the valley vainly trying to cast out +stubborn devils, or wearily toiling on the tumultuous, +wind-tossed sea. Sometimes He was surrounded by vast +crowds, and He entered into high disputes with the +doctors of the law, and they had to wait till He was +alone to seek explanations of His teachings. But they +were never to lose this other Helper in the crowd, +nor be separated for an instant from Him, for no human +being, nor untoward circumstance, nor physical necessity, +could ever come between Him and them, for, said Jesus, +“He shall be in you.”</p> + +<p>From the words used to declare the sayings, the doings, +the offices and works of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, +we are forced to conclude that He is a Divine Person. +Out of the multitude of Scriptures which might be +quoted, note this passage, which, as nearly as is +possible with human language, reveals to us His personality: +“Now there were in the Church that was at Antioch +certain prophets and teachers... As they ministered +to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate +Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have +called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, +and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. +So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed +into Seleucia” (Acts xiii. 1-4).</p> + +<p>Further on we read that they “were forbidden +of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia”; +and when they would have gone into Bithynia, “the +Spirit suffered them not” (Acts xvi. 6, 7).</p> + +<p>Again, when the messengers of Cornelius, the Roman +centurion, were seeking Peter, “the Spirit said +unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise, therefore, +and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: +for I have sent them” (Acts x. 19, 20).</p> + +<p>These are but a few of the passages of Scripture that +might be quoted to establish the fact of His personality—­His +power to think, to will, to act, to speak; and if +His personality is not made plain in these Scriptures, +then it is impossible for human language to make it +so.</p> + +<p>Indeed, I am persuaded that if an intelligent heathen, +who had never seen the Bible, should for the first +time read the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, +he would say that the personality of the Holy Spirit +is as clearly revealed in the Acts as is the personality +of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. In truth, the Acts +of the Apostles are in a large measure the acts of +the Holy Spirit, and the disciples were not more certainly +under the immediate direction of Jesus during the +three years of His earthly ministry than they were +under the direct leadership of the Spirit after Pentecost.</p> + +<p>But, while there are those that admit His personality, +yet in their loyalty to the Divine Unity they deny +the Trinity, and maintain that the Holy Spirit is +only the Father manifesting Himself as Spirit, without +any distinction in personality. But this view cannot +be harmonised with certain Scriptures. While the Bible +and reason plainly declare that there is but one God, +yet the Scriptures as clearly reveal that there are +three Persons in the Godhead—­Father, Son, +and Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>The form of Paul’s benediction to the Corinthians +proves the doctrine:—–­</p> + +<p>“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the +love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, +be with you all. Amen” (2 Cor. xiii. 14).</p> + +<p>Again, it is taught in the promise of Jesus, already +quoted, “And I will pray the Father, and He +shall give you another Comforter... the Spirit of +Truth” (John xiv. 16, 17). Here the three Persons +of the Godhead are clearly revealed. The Son prays; +the Father answers; the Spirit comes.</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit is “another Comforter,” +a second Comforter succeeding the first, who was Jesus, +and both were given by the Father.</p> + +<p>Do you say, “I cannot understand it”? +Neither do I. Who can understand it? God does not +expect us to understand it. Nor would He have us puzzle +our heads and trouble our hearts in attempting to +understand it or harmonise it with our knowledge of +arithmetic.</p> + +<p>Note this: it is only the <i>fact</i> that is revealed; +<i>how</i> there can be three Persons in one Godhead +is not revealed.</p> + +<p>The <i>how</i> is a mystery, and is not a matter of +faith at all; but the <i>fact</i> is a matter of revelation, +and therefore a matter of faith. I myself am a mysterious +trinity of body, mind, and spirit. The fact I believe, +but the <i>how</i> is not a thing to believe. It is +at this point that many puzzle and perplex themselves +needlessly.</p> + +<p>In the ordinary affairs of life we grasp facts, and +hold them fast, without puzzling ourselves over the +<i>how</i> of things. Who can explain <i>how</i> food +sustains life; how light reveals material objects, +how sound conveys ideas to our minds? It is the fact +we know and believe, but the <i>how</i> we pass by +as a mystery unrevealed. What God has revealed, we +believe. We cannot understand <i>how</i> Jesus turned +water into wine; <i>how</i> He multiplied a few loaves +and fishes and fed thousands; <i>how</i> He stilled +the stormy sea; <i>how</i> He opened blind eyes, healed +lepers, and raised the dead by a word. But the facts +we believe. Wireless telegraphic messages are sent +over the vast wastes of ocean. That is a fact, and +we believe it. But <i>how</i> they go we do not know. +That is not something to believe. It is a matter of +pure speculation, and is unexplained.</p> + +<p>An old servant of God has pointed out that it is the +fact of the Trinity, and not the <i>manner</i> of +it, which God has revealed, and made a subject for +our faith.</p> + +<p>But while the Scriptures reveal to us the fact of +the personality of the Holy Spirit, and it is a subject +for our faith, to those in whom He dwells this fact +may become a matter of sacred knowledge, of blessed +experience.</p> + +<p>How else can we account for the positive and assured +way in which the Apostles and disciples spoke of the +Holy Ghost on and after the day of Pentecost, if they +did not know Him? Immediately after the fiery baptism, +with its blessed filling, Peter stood before the people, +and said: “This is that which was spoken by the +prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last +days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all +flesh”; then he exhorted the people and assured +them that if they would meet certain simple conditions +they should “receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” +He said to Ananias, “Why hath Satan filled thine +heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?” He declared +to the High Priest and Council that he and his fellow-Apostles +were witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus: and added, +“And so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath +given to them that obey Him.” Without any apology +or explanation, or “think so” or “hope +so,” they speak of being “filled” +(not simply with some new, strange experience or emotion, +but) “with the Holy Ghost.” Certainly they +must have known Him. And if they knew Him, may not +we?</p> + +<p>Paul says: “Now we have received, not the spirit +of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that +we might know the things that are freely given to +us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the +words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which +the Holy Ghost teacheth” (I Cor. ii. 12, 13). +And if we know the words, may we not know the Teacher +of the words?</p> + +<p>John Wesley says:—­</p> + +<p>“The knowledge of the Three-One God is interwoven +with all true Christian faith, with all vital religion. +I do not say,” he adds, “that every real +Christian can say, with the Marquis de Renty, ’I +bear about with me continually an experimental verity, +and a fullness of the ever-blessed Trinity. +I apprehend that this is not the experience of “babes,” +but rather “fathers in Christ."’ But I +know not how anyone can be a Christian believer till +he ‘hath the witness in himself,’ till +’the Spirit of God witnesses with his spirit +that he is a child of God’; that is, in effect, +till God the Holy Ghost witnesses that God the Father +has accepted him through the merits of God the Son.</p> + +<p>“Not that every Christian believer adverts to +this; perhaps, at first, not one in twenty; but, if +you ask them a few questions, you will easily find +it is implied in what he believes.”</p> + +<p>I shall never forget my joy, mingled with awe and +wonder, when this dawned upon my consciousness. For +several weeks I had been searching the Scriptures, +ransacking my heart, humbling my soul, and crying +to God almost day and night for a pure heart and the +baptism with the Holy Ghost, when one glad, sweet day +(it was January 9th, 1885) this text suddenly opened +to my understanding: “If we confess our sins, +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and +to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”; and +I was enabled to believe without any doubt that the +precious blood cleansed my heart, even mine, from +all sin. Shortly after that, while reading these words +of Jesus to Martha: “I am the resurrection and +the life; he that believeth on Me, though he were +dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth +on Me shall never die,” instantly my heart was +melted like wax before fire; Jesus Christ was revealed +to my spiritual consciousness, revealed in me, and +my soul was filled with unutterable love. I walked +in a heaven of love. Then one day, with amazement, +I said to a friend: “This is the perfect love +about which the Apostle John wrote; but it is beyond +all I dreamed of; in it is personality; this love +thinks, wills, talks with me, corrects me, instructs +and teaches me.” And then I knew that God the +Holy Ghost was in this love, and that this love was +God, for “God is love.”</p> + +<p>Oh, the rapture mingled with reverential, holy fear—­for +it is a rapturous, yet divinely fearful thing—­to +be indwelt by the Holy Ghost, to be a temple of the +Living God! Great heights are always opposite great +depths, and from the heights of this blessed experience +many have plunged into the dark depths of fanaticism. +But we must not draw back from the experience through +fear. All danger will be avoided by meekness and lowliness +of heart; by humble, faithful service; by esteeming +others better than ourselves, and in honour preferring +them before ourselves; by keeping an open, teachable +spirit; in a word, by looking steadily unto Jesus, +to whom the Holy Spirit continually points us: for +He would not have us fix our attention exclusively +upon Himself and His work <i>in</i> us, but also upon +the Crucified One and His work <i>for</i> us, that +we may walk in the steps of Him whose blood purchases +our pardon, and makes and keeps us clean.</p> + +<p> “Great Paraclete! to Thee we cry:<br> + O highest Gift of God most high!<br> + O Fount of life! O Fire of love!<br> + And sweet Anointing from above!</p> + +<p> “Our senses touch with light and +fire;<br> + Our hearts with tender love inspire;<br> + And with endurance from on high<br> + The weakness of our flesh supply.</p> + +<p> “Far back our enemy repel,<br> + And let Thy peace within us dwell;<br> + So may we, having Thee for Guide,<br> + Turn from each hurtful thing aside.</p> + +<p> “Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow<br> + The Father and the Son to know,<br> + And evermore to hold confessed<br> + Thyself of Each the Spirit blest.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter2"></a> +<h1>II.</h1> + +<h2>Preparing His House</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, +Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he +cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is +born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born +of the Spirit is spirit.” And Paul wrote to the +Romans that, “If any man have not the Spirit +of Christ, he is none of His.”</p> + +<p>So it must be that every child of God, every truly +converted person, has the Holy Spirit in some gracious +manner and measure, else he would not be a child of +God; for it is only “as many as are led by the +Spirit of God” that “are the sons of God.”</p> + +<p>It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin, who +makes us feel how good and righteous, and just and +patient God is, and how guilty we are, and how unfit +for Heaven, and how near to Hell. It is the Holy Spirit +who leads us to true repentance and confession and +amendment of life; and when our repentance is complete, +and our surrender is unconditional, it is He who reasons +with us, and calms our fears, and soothes our troubled +hearts, and banishes our darkness, and enables us +to look to Jesus, and believe on Him for the forgiveness +of all our sins and the salvation of our souls. And +when we yield and trust, and are accepted of the Lord, +and are saved by grace, it is He who assures us of +the Father’s favour, and notifies us that we +are saved. “The Spirit Himself beareth witness +with our spirit that we are the children of God.” +He is “the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, +Abba, Father.”</p> + +<p> “And His that gentle voice we hear,<br> + Soft as the breath of even;<br> + That checks each thought, that calms each fear,<br> + And speaks of Heaven.”</p> + +<p>It is He who strengthens the new convert +to fight against and overcome sin, and it is He +who “begets within him a hope of fuller righteousness +through faith in Christ.”</p> + +<p> “And every virtue we possess,<br> + And every victory won,<br> + And every thought of holiness,<br> + Are His alone.”</p> + +<p>Blessed be God for this work of the Holy Spirit within +the heart of every true child of His!</p> + +<p>But, great and gracious as is this work, it is not +the fiery pentecostal baptism with the Spirit which +is promised; it is not the fullness of the Holy Ghost +to which we are exhorted. It is only the clear dawn +of the day, and not the rising of the day-star. This +is only the initial work of the Spirit. It is perfect +of its kind, but it is preparatory to another and fuller +work, about which I wish to write.</p> + +<p>Jesus said to His disciples, concerning the Holy Spirit, +that “the world” (the unsaved, unrepentant) +“cannot receive” Him, “because it +seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him”; because +they resist Him, and will not permit Him to work in +their hearts. And then Jesus added, “but ye +know Him; for He dwelleth with you....” He had +begun His work in them, but there was more to follow, +for Jesus said, “and shall be in you.”</p> + +<p>When a man is building himself a house, he is in and +out of it and round about it. But we do not say he +lives in it until it has been completed. And it is +in that sense that Jesus said, “He dwelleth +with you.” But when the house is finished, the +owner sweeps out all the chips and saw-dust, scrubs +the floor, lays down his carpets, hangs up his pictures, +arranges his furniture, and moves in with his family. +Then he is in the fullest sense within it. He abides +there. Now, it is in that sense that Jesus meant that +the Holy Spirit should be in them. This is fitly expressed +in one of our songs:-</p> + +<p> “Holy Spirit, come, Oh, come!<br> + Let Thy work in me be done!<br> + All that hinders shall be thrown +aside;<br> + Make me fit to be Thy dwelling.”</p> + +<p>Previous to Pentecost He was with them, using the +searching preaching of John the Baptist, and the life, +the words, the example, the sufferings, and the death +and resurrection of Jesus as instruments with which +to fashion their hearts for His indwelling. As the +truth was declared to them in the words of Jesus, +pictured to them in His doings, exemplified in His +daily life, and fulfilled in His death and His rising +from the dead, the Holy Spirit wrought mightily within +them; but He could not yet find perfect rest in their +hearts; therefore He did not yet abide within them.</p> + +<p>They had forsaken all to follow Christ. They had been +commissioned to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick, +to cleanse the lepers, to raise the dead, to cast +out devils. Their names were written in Heaven. They +were not of the world, even as Jesus was not of the +world, for they belonged to Him and to the Father. +They knew the Holy Spirit, for He was with them, working +in them, but not yet living in them, for they were +yet carnal; that is, they were selfish, each seeking +the best place for himself. They disputed among themselves +as to which should be the greatest. They were bigoted, +wanting to call down fire from Heaven to consume those +who would not receive Jesus, and forbidding those +who would not follow them to cast out devils in His +name. They were positive and loud in their professions +of devotion and loyalty to Jesus when alone with Him. +They declared they would die with Him. But they were +fearful, timid, and false to Him when the testing +time came. When the mocking crowd appeared, and danger +was near, they all forsook Him, and fled; while Peter +cursed and swore, and denied that he knew Him.</p> + +<p>But the Holy Spirit did not forsake them. He still +wrought within them, and, no doubt, used their very +mistakes and miserable failures to perfect within +them the spirit of humility and perfect self-abasement +in order that they might safely be exalted. And on +the day of Pentecost His work of preparation was complete, +and He moved in to abide for ever. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>And this experience of theirs before Pentecost is +the common experience of all true converts. Every +child of God knows that the Holy Spirit is with him; +realises that He is working within, striving to set +the house in order. And with many who are properly +taught and gladly obedient, this work is done quickly, +and the heavenly Dove, the Blessed One, takes up his +constant abode within them; the toil and strife with +inbred sin is ended by its destruction, and they enter +at once into the sabbath of full salvation.</p> + +<p>Surely this is possible. The disciples could not receive +the Holy Spirit till Jesus was glorified; because +not until then was the foundation for perfect, intelligent, +unwavering faith laid. But since the day of Pentecost, +He may be received immediately by those who have repented +of all sin, who have believed on Jesus, and been born +again. Some have assured me that they were sanctified +wholly and filled with the Spirit within a few hours +of their conversion. I have no doubt that this was +so with many of the three thousand who were converted +under Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost.</p> + +<p>But often this work is slow, for He can only work +effectually as we work with Him, practising intelligent +and obedient faith. Some days the work prospers and +seems almost complete, and then peace and joy and +comfort abound in the heart; at other times the work +is hindered, and oftentimes almost or quite undone, +by the strivings and stirrings of inbred sin, by fits +of temper, by lightness and frivolity, by neglect +of watchfulness and prayer, and the patient, attentive +study of His word; by worldliness, by unholy ambitions, +by jealousies and envyings, by uncharitable suspicions +and harsh judgments and selfish indulgences, and slowness +to believe.</p> + +<p>“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” +seeks to bring the soul back under the bondage of +sin again, while the Spirit wars against the flesh, +which is “the old man,” “the carnal +mind.” The Spirit seeks to bring every thought +into “captivity to the obedience of Christ,” +to lead the soul to that point of glad, whole-hearted +consecration to its Lord, and that simple, perfect +faith in the merits of His blood which shall enable +Him to cast out “the old man,” destroy +“the carnal mind,” and, making the heart +His temple, enthrone Christ within.</p> + +<p> “Here on earth a temple stands,<br> + Temple never built with hands;<br> + There the Lord doth fill the place<br> + With the glory of His grace.<br> + Cleansed by Christ’s atoning blood,<br> + <i>Thou</i> art this fair house of God.<br> + Thoughts, desires, that enter there,<br> + Should they not be pure and fair?<br> + Meet for holy courts and blest,<br> + Courts of stillness and of rest,<br> + Where the soul, a priest in white,<br> + Singeth praises day and night;<br> + Glory of the love divine,<br> + Filling all this heart of mine.”</p> + +<p>My brother, my sister, what is your experience just +now? Are you filled with the Spirit? Or is the old +man still warring against Him in your heart? Oh, that +you may receive Him fully by faith just now!</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter3"></a> +<h1>III.</h1> + +<h2>Is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit a Third Blessing?</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>There is much difference of opinion among many of +God’s children as to the time and order of the +baptism with the Holy Spirit, and many who believe +that entire cleansing is subsequent to salvation, +ask if the baptism with the Spirit is not subsequent +to cleansing, and, therefore, a third blessing.</p> + +<p>There are four classes of teachers whose views appear +to differ about this subject. There are:-</p> + +<p>1. Those who emphasise cleansing; who say much of +a clean heart, but little, if anything, about the +fullness of the Holy Spirit and power from on High.</p> + +<p>2. Those who emphasise the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fullness of the Spirit, but say little or nothing +of cleansing from inbred sin and the destruction of +the carnal mind.</p> + +<p>3. Those who say much of both, but separate them into +two distinct experiences, often widely separated in +time.</p> + +<p>4. Those who teach that the truth is in the union +of the two, and that, while we may separate them in +their order, putting cleansing first, we cannot separate +them as to time, since it is the baptism that cleanses, +just as the darkness vanishes before the flash of +the electric light when the right button is touched; +just as the Augean stables were cleansed, in the fabled +story of Grecian mythology, when Hercules turned in +the floods of the River Arno; the refuse went out +as the rushing waters poured in.</p> + +<p>There are three very blessed portions of Scripture +which show us that this is God’s order, and +two that plainly show us that cleansing and the baptism +are not separate in time.</p> + +<p>In Psalm li. 10 and 12, David prays, “Create +in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit +within me.... Uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” +First the cleansing, then the filling that upholds: +for as it is my spirit within me that upholds my body, +so it is God’s Spirit within that upholds my +soul.</p> + +<p>In Ezekiel xxxvi. 25 and 27, the Lord says, “Then +will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall +be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your +idols, will I cleanse you.... And I will put My Spirit +within you.”</p> + +<p>Here again, the order is first cleansing, then filling.</p> + +<p>In John xvii. 15-26, Jesus prays for His disciples, +and says: “I pray not that Thou shouldst take +them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep +them from the evil.... Sanctify them;... that they +all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in +Thee; that they also may be one in Us;... I in them, +and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one;... +that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be +in them, and I in them.”</p> + +<p>Here, again, it is first sanctification (cleansing, +being made holy), then filling, divine union with +the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>These Scriptures make plain the order of God’s +work, and if we looked at them alone, without diligently +comparing Scripture with Scripture, as God would have +us do, we might perhaps conclude that the cleansing +and filling were as distinct and separate in time +as they are in this order of statement.</p> + +<p>But other Scriptures give us abundant light on that +side of the subject. In Isaiah vi. 1-8, we have the +record of the prophet’s sanctification, and +we notice that the cleansing and the filling were +not separate in time. The cleansing was not <i>before</i> +the baptism, but <i>by</i> the baptism. The “live +coal” was laid upon his mouth, and touched his +lips; and by this fiery baptism his iniquity was taken +away and his sin was purged.</p> + +<p>In Acts x. 44, we read of Peter’s preaching +Jesus to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, and his household; +and “while Peter yet spake these words, the +Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word”; +and in Acts xv. 7-9, at the first Council in Jerusalem, +we have Peter’s rehearsal of the experience of +Cornelius and his household. Peter says: “Men +and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God +made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth +should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And +God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, +giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; +and put no difference between us and them, purifying +their hearts by faith.” Here we see that their +believing, and the sudden descent of the Holy Ghost +with cleansing power into their hearts, constitute +one blessed experience.</p> + +<p>What patient, waiting, expectant faith reckons done, +the baptism with the Holy Ghost actually accomplishes. +Between the act of faith by which a man begins to +reckon himself “dead indeed unto sin, but alive +unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans +vi. 11), and the act of the Holy Spirit, which makes +the reckoning good, there may be an interval of time, +“a little while” (Hebrews x. 37); but +the act and state of steadfastly, patiently, joyously, +perfectly believing, which is man’s part, and +the act of baptising with the Holy Ghost, cleansing +as by fire, which is God’s part, bring about +the one experience of entire sanctification, and must +not and cannot be logically looked upon as two distinct +blessings, any more than the act of the husband and +the act of the wife can be separated in the one experience +of marriage.</p> + +<p>There are two works and two workers: God and man. +Just as my right arm and my left arm work when my +two hands come together, but the union of the two +hands constitute one experience.</p> + +<p>If my left arm acts quickly, my right arm will surely +respond. And so, if the soul, renouncing self and +sin and the world, with ardour of faith in the precious +blood for cleansing, and in the promise of the gift +of the Holy Spirit, draws nigh to God, God will draw +nigh to that soul, and the blessed union will be effected +suddenly: and in that instant, what faith has reckoned +done will be done, the death-stroke will be given to +“the old man,” sin will die, and the heart +will be clean indeed, and wholly alive toward God +through our Lord Jesus Christ. It will not be a mere +“make-believe” experience, but a gloriously +real one.</p> + +<p>It is possible that some have been led into confusion +of thought on this subject by not considering all +the Scriptures bearing on it. What is it that cleanses +or sanctifies, and how? Jesus prays: “Sanctify +them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” Here +it is the word, or truth, that sanctifies.</p> + +<p>John says: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son +cleanseth us from all sin.” Here it is the blood.</p> + +<p>Peter says: “God...put no difference between +us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” +And Paul says: “That they may receive forgiveness +of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified +by faith.” Here it is by faith.</p> + +<p>Again, Paul writes: “God hath from the beginning +chosen you to salvation through sanctification of +the Spirit” (2 Thess. ii. 13). And again, “That +the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, +being sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Romans xv. +16). And Peter writes: “To the strangers... +elect... through sanctification of the Spirit” +(1 Peter i. I, 2). Here it is the Spirit that sanctifies +or makes clean and holy.</p> + +<p>Is there, then, confusion here? Jesus says, “the +truth”; John says, “the blood”; +Paul and Peter say, “faith,” and “the +Holy Ghost.” Can these be reconciled? Let us +see.</p> + +<p>Here is a child in a burning house. A man at the peril +of his life rushes to the spot above which the child +stands in awful danger, and cries out, “Jump, +and I will catch you!”</p> + +<p>The child hears, believes, leaps, and the man receives +him; but just as he turns and places the boy in safety, +a falling timber smites him to the ground wounded +to death, and his flowing blood sprinkles the boy +whom he has saved.</p> + +<p>A breathless spectator says: “The child’s +faith saved him.” Another says: “How quick +the lad was! His courageous leap saved him.” +Another says: “Bless the child! He was in awful +danger, and he just barely saved himself.” Another +says: “That man’s word just reached the +boy’s ear in the nick of time, and saved him.” +Another says: “God bless that man! He saved that +child.” And yet another says: “That boy +was saved by blood; by the sacrifice of that heroic +man!”</p> + +<p>Now, what saved the child? Without the man’s +presence and promise there would have been no faith; +and without faith there would have been no saving +action, and the boy would have perished. The man’s +word saved him by inspiring faith. Faith saved him +by leading to proper action. He saved himself by leaping. +The man saved him by sacrificing his own life in order +to catch him when he leaped out.</p> + +<p>Not the child himself alone, nor his faith, nor his +brave leap, nor his rescuer’s word, nor his +blood, nor the man himself saved the boy, but they +all together saved him; and the boy was not saved +till he was in the arms of the man.</p> + +<p>And so it is faith and works, and the word and the +blood and the Holy Ghost that sanctify.</p> + +<p>The blood, the sacrifice of Christ, underlies all, +and is the meritorious cause of every blessing we +receive, but the Holy Spirit is the active Agent by +whom the merits of the blood are applied to our needs.</p> + +<p>During the American Civil War certain men committed +some dastardly and unlawful deeds, and were sentenced +to be shot. On the day of the execution they stood +in a row confronted by soldiers with loaded muskets, +waiting the command to fire. Just before the command +was given, the commanding officer felt a touch on +his elbow, and, turning, saw a young man by his side, +who said, “Sir, there in that row, waiting to +be shot, is a married man. He has a wife and children. +He is their bread-winner. If you shoot him, he will +be sorely missed. <i>Let me take his place.</i>”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said the officer; “take +his place, if you wish; but you will be shot.”</p> + +<p>“I quite understand that,” replied the +young man; “but no one will miss me”; +and, going to the condemned man, he pushed him aside, +and took his place.</p> + +<p>Soon the command to fire was given. The volley rang +out, and the young hero dropped dead with a bullet +through his heart, while the other man went free.</p> + +<p>His freedom came to him by blood. Had he, however, +neglected the great salvation, and, despising the +blood shed for him, and refusing the sacrifice of +the friend and the righteous claims of the law, persisted +in the same evil ways, he, too, would have been shot. +The blood, though shed for him, would not have availed +to set him free. But he accepted the sacrifice, submitted +to the law, and went home to his wife and children; +but it was by the blood; every breath he henceforth +drew, every throb of his heart, every blessing he +enjoyed, or possibly could enjoy, came to him by the +blood. He owed everything from that day forth to the +blood, and every fleeting moment, every passing day, +and every rolling year but increased his debt to the +blood which had been shed for him.</p> + +<p>And so we owe all to the blood of Christ, for we were +under sentence of death—­"The soul that +sinneth it shall die”; and we have all sinned, +and God, to be holy, must frown upon sin, and utterly +condemn it, and must execute His sentence against it.</p> + +<p>But Jesus suffered for our sins. He died for us. “He +was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised +for our iniquities;... and with His stripes we are +healed.” “Ye know that ye were not redeemed +with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but +with the precious blood of Christ” (i Peter +i. 18, 19); “Who loved me, and gave Himself +for me” (Gal. ii. 20). And now every blessing +we ever had, or ever shall have, comes to us by the +Divine Sacrifice, by “the precious blood.” +And “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great +salvation?” His blood is the meritorious cause +not only of our pardon, but of our cleansing, our +sanctification; but the Holy Spirit is the ever-present, +living, active Cause.</p> + +<p>The truth or word which sanctifies is the record God +has given us of His will and of that Divine Sacrifice, +that “precious blood.” The faith that +purifies is that sure confidence in that word which +leads to renunciation of all self-righteousness, that +utter abandonment to God’s will, and full dependence +on the merits of “the precious blood,” +the “faith that works by love,” for “faith +without works is dead.” And thus we draw nigh +to God, and God draws nigh to us, and the Holy Ghost +falls upon us, comes into us, and cleanses our hearts +by the destruction of sin, and the shedding abroad +within us of the love of God.</p> + +<p>The advocates of entire sanctification as an experience +wrought in the soul by the baptism with the Spirit +subsequent to regeneration call it “the second +blessing.”</p> + +<p>But many good people object to the term, and say that +they have received the first, second, third, and fiftieth +blessing; and no doubt they have; and yet the people +who speak of “the second blessing” are +right, in the sense in which they use the term; and +in that sense there are but the two blessings.</p> + +<p>Some years ago a man heard things about a lady that +filled him with admiration for her, and made him feel +that they were of one mind and heart. Later, he met +her for the first time, and fell in love with her. +After some months, following an enlarged acquaintance +and much consideration and prayer, he told her of +his love, and asked her to become his wife; and after +due consideration and prayer on her part she consented, +and they promised themselves to each other; they plighted +their faith, and in a sense gave themselves to each +other.</p> + +<p>That was the first blessing, and it filled him with +great peace and joy, but not perfect peace and joy. +Now, there were many blessings following that before +the great second blessing came. Every letter he received, +every tender look, every pressure of the hand, every +tone of her voice, every fresh assurance of enduring +and increasing affection was a blessing; but it was +not the second blessing.</p> + +<p>But one day, after patient waiting, which might have +been shortened by mutual consent, if they had thought +it wise, and after full preparation, they came together +in the presence of friends and before a man of God, +and in the most solemn and irrevocable manner gave +themselves to each other to become one, and were pronounced +man and wife. That was the second blessing, an epochal +experience, unlike anything which preceded, or anything +to follow. And now their peace and joy and rest were +full.</p> + +<p>There had to be the first and second blessings in +this relationship of man and wife, but there is no +third. And yet in the sense of those who say they +have received fifty blessings from the Lord, there +have been countless blessings in their wedded life; +indeed, it has been a river of blessing, broadening +and deepening in gladness and joy and sweet affections +and fellowship with the increasing years.</p> + +<p>But let us not confuse thought by disputing over terms +and wrangling about words.</p> + +<p>The first blessing in Jesus Christ is salvation, with +its negative side of remission of sins and forgiveness, +and its positive side of renewal or regeneration—­the +new birth—­one experience.</p> + +<p>And the second blessing is entire sanctification, +with its negative side of cleansing, and its positive +side of filling with the Holy Ghost—­one +whole, rounded, glorious, epochal experience. And +while there may be many refreshings, girdings, illuminations, +and secret tokens and assurances of love and favour, +there is no third blessing in this large sense, in +this present time.</p> + +<p>But when time is no more, when the ever-lasting doors +have lifted up, and the King of Glory comes in with +His Bride, and, for ever redeemed and crowned, He +makes us to sit down with Him on His throne, then +in eternity we shall have the third blessing—­we +shall be glorified.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter4"></a> +<h1>IV.</h1> + +<h2>The Witness of the Spirit</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>How shall I know that I am accepted of God?—­that +I am saved or sanctified? The Bible declares God’s +love and pity for sinners, including me, and reveals +His offer of mercy to me in Jesus Christ, on condition +that I fully repent of my sins, and yielding myself +to Him, believe on Jesus Christ, and taking up my cross, +follow Him. But how shall I know that I have met these +conditions in a way to satisfy Him, and that I am +myself saved?</p> + +<p>1. The Bible cannot tell me this. It tells me what +to do, but it does not tell me when I have done it, +any more than the sign-board at the country cross-roads, +pointing out the road leading to the city, tells me +when I have got to the city.</p> + +<p>2. My religious teachers and friends cannot tell me, +for they cannot read my heart, nor the mind of God +toward me. How can they know when I have in my heart +repented and believed, and when His righteous anger +is turned away?</p> + +<p>They can encourage me to repent, believe, obey, and +can assure me that, if I do, He will accept me, and +I shall be saved; but beyond that they cannot go.</p> + +<p>3. My own heart, owing to its darkness and deceitfulness +and liability to error, is not a safe witness previous +to the assurance God Himself gives. If my neighbour +is justly offended with me, it is not my own heart, +but his testimony that first assures me of his favour +once more.</p> + +<p>How, then, shall I know that I am justified or wholly +sanctified? There is but one way, and that is by the +witness of the Holy Spirit. God must notify me, and +make me to know it; and this He does, when, despairing +of my own works of righteousness, I cast my poor soul +fully and in faith upon Jesus. “For ye have not +received the spirit of bondage again to fear,” +says Paul, “but ye have received the spirit +of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit +itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are +the children of God” (Romans viii. 15, 16). “And +because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit +of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” +(Gal. iv. 6). Unless He Himself assures me, I shall +never know that He accepts me, but must continue in +uncertainty all my days.</p> + +<p> “Come, Holy Ghost, Thyself impress<br> + On my expanding heart:<br> + And show that in the Father’s +grace<br> + I share a filial part.”</p> + +<p>The General says: “Assurance is produced by +the revelation of forgiveness and acceptance made +by God Himself directly to the soul. This is the witness +of the Spirit. It is God testifying in my soul that +He has loved me, and given Himself for me, and washed +me from my sins in His own blood. Nothing short of +this <i>actual revelation</i>, made by God Himself, +can make anyone sure of salvation.”</p> + +<p>John Wesley says: “By the testimony of the Spirit, +I mean an inward impression of the soul, whereby the +Spirit of God immediately and directly witnesses to +my spirit that I am a child of God; that ‘Jesus +hath loved me, and given Himself for me’; that +all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled +to God.”</p> + +<p>This witness of the Spirit addressed to my consciousness +enables me to sing with joyful assurance:—­</p> + +<p> “My God is reconciled;<br> + His pardoning voice I hear:<br> + He owns me for His child;<br> + I can no longer fear:<br> + With confidence I now draw nigh,<br> + And, ‘Father, Abba, Father,’ +cry.”</p> + +<p>When the Holy Spirit witnesses to me that I am saved +and adopted into God’s family as His child, +then other evidences begin to abound also. For instance:—­</p> + +<p>1. My own spirit witnesses that I am a new creature. +I know that old things have passed away, and all things +have become new. My very thoughts and desires have +been changed. Love and joy and peace reign within +me. My heart no longer condemns me. Pride and selfishness, +and lust and temper, no longer control my thoughts +nor lead captive my will. I am a new creature, and +I know it, and I infer without doubt that this is +the work of God in me.</p> + +<p>2. My conscience bears witness that I am honest and +true in all my purposes and intentions; that I am +without guile; that my eye is single to the glory +of God, and that with all simplicity and sincerity +of heart I serve Him; and, since by nature I am only +sinful, I again infer that this sincerity of heart +is His blessed work in my soul, and is a fruit of +salvation.</p> + +<p>3. The Bible becomes a witness to my salvation. In +it are accurately portrayed the true characteristics +of the children of God; and as I study it prayerfully, +and find these characteristics in my heart and life, +I again infer that I am saved. This is true self-examination, +and is most useful.</p> + +<p>These evidences are most important to guard us against +any mistake as to the witness of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>The witness of the Spirit is not likely to be mistaken +for something else, just as the sun is not likely +to be mistaken for a lesser light, a glow-worm or +a moon. But one who has not seen the sun might mistake +some lesser light for the sun. So an unsaved man may +mistake some flash of fancy, some pleasant emotion, +for the witness of the Spirit. But if he is honest, +the absence of these secondary evidences and witnesses +will correct him. He must know that so long as sin +masters him, reigns within him, and he is devoid of +the tempers, graces, and dispositions of God’s +people, as portrayed in the Bible, that he is mistaken +in supposing that he has the witness of the Spirit. +The Holy Spirit cannot witness to what does not exist. +He cannot lie. Not until sin is forgiven does He witness +to the fact. Not until we are justified from our old +sins and born again does He witness that we are children +of God; and when He does so witness, these secondary +evidences always follow. Charles Wesley expresses this +in one of his matchless hymns:—­</p> + +<p> “How can a sinner know<br> + His sins on earth forgiven?<br> + How can my gracious Saviour show<br> + My name inscribed in Heaven?</p> + +<p> “We who in Christ believe<br> + That He for us hath died,<br> + We all His unknown peace receive,<br> + And feel His blood applied.</p> + +<p> “His love, surpassing far<br> + The love of all beneath,<br> + We find within our hearts, and dare<br> + The pointless darts of death.</p> + +<p> “Stronger than death and hell<br> + The mystic power we prove;<br> + And conquerors of the world, we dwell<br> + In Heaven, who dwell in love.”</p> + +<p>The witness of the Spirit is far more comprehensive +than many suppose. Multitudes do not believe that +there is any such thing, while others confine it to +the forgiveness of sins and adoption into the family +of God. But the truth is that the Holy Spirit witnesses +to much more than this.</p> + +<p>He witnesses to the sinner that he is guilty, condemned +before God, and lost. This we call conviction; but +it is none other than the witness of the Spirit to +the sinner’s true condition; and when a man +realises it, nothing can convince him to the contrary. +His friends may point out his good works, his kindly +disposition, and try to assure him that he is not +a bad man; but, so long as the Spirit continues to +witness to his guilt, nothing can console him or reassure +his quaking heart. This convicting witness may come +to a sinner at any time, but it is usually given under +the searching preaching of the Gospel, or the burning +testimony of those who have been gloriously saved +and sanctified; or in time of danger, when the soul +is awed into silence, so that it can hear the “still +small voice” of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>Again, the Holy Spirit not only witnesses to the forgiveness +of sins and acceptance with God, but He also witnesses +to sanctification. “For by one offering,” +says the Apostle, “He” (that is, Jesus) +“hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. +Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us” +(Hebrews x. 14, 15).</p> + +<p>Indeed, one who has this witness can no more doubt +it than a man with two good eyes can doubt the existence +of the sun when he steps forth into the splendour +of a cloudless noon-day. It satisfies him, and he +cries out exultingly, “We know, we know!” +Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>Paul seems to teach that the Holy Spirit witnesses +to every good thing God works in us, for he says: +“We have received, not the spirit of the world, +but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know +the things that are freely given to us of God” +(1 Cor. ii. 12). It is for our comfort and encouragement +to know our acceptance of God and our rights, privileges, +and possessions in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit +is given for this purpose, that we may <i>know</i>.</p> + +<p>But it is important to bear in mind God’s plan +of work in this matter.</p> + +<p>1. The witness of the Spirit is dependent upon our +faith. God does not give it to those who do not believe +in Jesus; and if our faith wavers, the witness will +become intermittent; and if faith fails, it will be +withdrawn. Owing to the unsteadiness of their faith, +many young converts get into uncertainty. Happy are +they at such times if some one is at hand to instruct +and encourage them to look steadfastly to Jesus. But, +alas! many old Christians through unsteady faith walk +in gloom and uncertainty, and, instead of encouraging +the young, they discourage them. Steadfast faith will +keep the inward witness bright.</p> + +<p>2. We must not get our attention off Jesus, and the +promises of God in Him, and fix it upon the witness +of the Spirit. The witness continues only while we +look unto Jesus, and trust and obey Him. When we take +our eyes off Him, the witness is gone. Many people +fail here. Instead of quietly and confidently looking +unto Jesus, and trusting Him, they are vainly looking +for the witness; which is as though a man should try +to realise the sweetness of honey, without receiving +it in his mouth; or the beauty of a picture, while +having his eyes turned inward upon himself instead +of outward upon the picture. Jesus saves. Look to +Him, and He will send the Spirit to witness to His +work.</p> + +<p>3. The witness may be brightened by diligence in the +discharge of duty, by frequent seasons of glad prayer, +by definite testimony to salvation and sanctification, +and by stirring up our faith.</p> + +<p>4. The witness may be dulled by neglect of duty, by +sloth in prayer, by inattention to the Bible, by indefinite, +hesitating testimony, and by carelessness, when we +should be careful to walk soberly and steadfastly +with the Lord.</p> + +<p>5. I dare not say that the witness of the Spirit is +dependent upon our health, but there are some forms +of nervous and organic disease that seem to so distract +or becloud the mind as to interfere with the clear +discernment of the witness of the Spirit. I knew a +nervous little child who would be so distracted with +fear by an approaching carriage, when being carried +across the street in her father’s arms, that +she seemed to be incapable of hearing or heeding his +reassuring voice. It may be that there are some diseases +that for the time prevent the sufferer from discerning +the reassuring witness of the Heavenly Father. Dr. +Asa Mahan told me of an experience of this kind which +he had in a very dangerous sickness. And Dr. Daniel +Steele had a similar experience while lying at the +point of death with typhoid fever. But some of the +happiest Christians the world has seen have been racked +with pain and tortured with disease.</p> + +<p>And so there may be seasons of fierce temptation when +the witness is not clearly discerned; but we may rest +assured that if our hearts cleave to Jesus Christ +and duty, He will never leave or forsake us. Blessed +be God!</p> + +<p>6. But the witness will be lost if we wilfully sin, +or persistently neglect to follow where He leads. +This witness is a pearl of great price, and Satan +will try to steal it from us; therefore, we must guard +it with watchful prayer continually.</p> + +<p>7. If lost, it may be found again by prayer and faith +and a dutiful taking up of the cross which has been +laid down. Thousands who have lost it have found it +again, and often they have found it with increased +brightness and glory. If you have lost it, my brother, +look up in faith to your loving God, and He will restore +it to you. It is possible to live on the right side +of plain duty without the witness, but you cannot be +sure of your salvation, joyful in service, or glad +in God, without it; and since it is promised to all +God’s children, no one who professes to be His +should be without it.</p> + +<p>If you have it not, my brother or sister, seek it +now by faith in Jesus. Go to Him, and do not let Him +go till He notifies you that you are His. Listen to +Charles Wesley:—­</p> + +<p> “From the world of sin, and noise,<br> + And hurry, I withdraw;<br> + For the small and inward voice<br> + I wait with humble awe;<br> + Silent am I now and still,<br> + Dare not in Thy presence move;<br> + To my waiting soul reveal<br> + The secret of Thy love.”</p> + +<p>Do you want the witness to abide? Then study the word +of God, and live by it; sing and make melody in your +heart to the Lord; praise the Lord with your first +waking breath in the morning, and thank Him with your +last waking breath at night; flee from sin; keep on +believing; look to Jesus, cleave to Him, follow Him +gladly, trust the efficacy of His blood, and the witness +will abide in your heart. Be patient with the Lord. +Let Him mould you, and “He will save, He will +rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, +He will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. iii. +17); and you shall no longer doubt, but know that you +are His. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p> “There are in this loud stunning +tide<br> + Of human care and crime,<br> + With whom the melodies abide<br> + Of th’ everlasting chime;<br> + Who carry music in their heart<br> + Through dusky lane and wrangling mart,<br> + Plying their task with busier feet<br> + Because their secret souls a holy strain +repeat.”</p> + +<p>And that “holy strain” is but the echo +of the Lord’s song in their heart, which is +the witness of the Spirit.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter5"></a> +<h1>V.</h1> + +<h2>Purity</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>A minister of the Gospel, after listening to an eminent +servant of God preaching on entire sanctification +through the baptism with the Spirit, wrote to him, +saying: “I like your teaching on the baptism +with the Holy Ghost. I need it, and am seeking it; +but I do not care much for entire sanctification or +heart-cleansing. Pray for me that I may be filled +with the Holy Ghost.”</p> + +<p>The brother knew him well, and immediately replied: +“I am so glad you believe in the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and are so earnestly seeking it. I +join my prayer with yours that you may receive that +gift. But let me say to you, that if you get the gift +of the Holy Ghost, you will have to take entire sanctification +with it, for the first thing the baptism with the Holy +Ghost does is to cleanse the heart from all sin.”</p> + +<p>Thank God, he humbled himself, permitted the Lord +to sanctify him, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit, +and mightily empowered to work for God.</p> + +<p>Many have looked at the promise of power when the +Holy Ghost is come, the energy of Peter’s preaching +on the day of Pentecost, and the marvellous results +which followed, and they have hastily and erroneously +jumped to the conclusion that the baptism with the +Holy Ghost is for work and service only.</p> + +<p>It does bring power—­the power of God, and +it does fit for service, probably the most important +service to which any created beings are commissioned, +the proclamation of salvation and the conditions of +peace to a lost world; but not that alone, nor primarily. +The primary, the basal work of the baptism, is that +of cleansing.</p> + +<p>You may turn a flood into your millrace, but until +it sweeps away the logs and brushwood and dirt that +obstruct the course, you cannot get power to turn +the wheels of your mill. The flood first washes out +the obstructions, and then you have power.</p> + +<p>The great hindrance in the hearts of God’s children +to the power of the Holy Ghost is inbred sin—­that +dark, defiant, evil something within that struggles +for the mastery of the soul, and will not submit to +be meek and lowly, and patient and forbearing and +holy, as was Jesus; and when the Holy Spirit comes, +His first work is to sweep away that something, that +carnal principle, and make free and clean all the +channels of the soul.</p> + +<p>Peter was filled with power on the day of Pentecost; +but evidently the purifying effect of the baptism +made a deeper and more lasting impression upon his +mind than the empowering effect; for years after, +in that first Council in Jerusalem, recorded in the +fifteenth chapter of Acts, he stood up and told about +the spiritual baptism of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, +and his household, and he said: “And God, which +knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them +the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no +difference between us and them, purifying their hearts +by faith.” Here he calls attention not to power, +but to purity, as the effect of the baptism. When +the Holy Ghost comes in to abide, “the old man” +goes out. Praise the Lord!</p> + +<p>This destruction of inbred sin is made perfectly plain +in that wonderful Old Testament type of the baptism +with the Holy Ghost and fire recorded in the sixth +chapter of Isaiah. The prophet was a most earnest +preacher of righteousness (see Isaiah i. 10-20), yet +he was not sanctified wholly. But he had a vision of +the Lord upon His Throne, and the seraphims crying +one to another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord +of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” +And the very “posts of the door moved at the +voice of him that cried”; and how much more +should the heart of the prophet be moved! And so it +was; and he cried out: “Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell +in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine +eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”</p> + +<p>When unsanctified men have a vision of God, it is +not their lack of power, but their lack of purity, +their unlikeness to Christ, the Holy One, that troubles +them. And so it was with the prophet. But he adds: +“Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having +a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the +tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth, +and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine +iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” +Here again, it is purity rather than power to which +our attention is directed.</p> + +<p>Again, in the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel, we +have another type of this spiritual baptism. In Isaiah +the type was that of fire, but here it is that of +water; for water and oil, and the wind and rain and +dew, are all used as types of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>The Lord says, through Ezekiel: “Then will I +sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; +from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, +will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, +and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will +take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I +will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My +Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, +and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.”</p> + +<p>Here again, the incoming of the Holy Spirit means +the outgoing of all sin, of “all your filthiness, +and of all your idols.” How plainly it is taught! +And yet, many of God’s dear children do not +believe it is their privilege to be free from sin and +pure in heart in this life. But, may we not? Let us +consider this.</p> + +<p>1. It is certainly <i>desirable</i>. Every sincere +Christian—­and none can be a Christian who +is not sincere—­wants to be free from sin, +to be pure in heart, to be like Christ. Sin is hateful +to every true child of God. The Spirit within him +cries out against the sin, the wrong temper, the pride, +the lust, the selfishness, the evil that lurks within +the heart. Surely, it is desirable to be free from +sin.</p> + +<p> “He wills that I should holy be:<br> + That holiness I long to feel;<br> + That full Divine conformity<br> + To all my Saviour’s righteous +will.”</p> + +<p>2. It is <i>necessary</i>, for “without holiness +no man shall see the Lord.” Sometime, somehow, +somewhere, sin must go out of our hearts—­all +sin—­or we cannot go into Heaven. Sin would +spoil Heaven just as it spoils earth; just as it spoils +the peace of hearts and homes, of families and neighbourhoods +and nations here. Why God in His wisdom allows sin +in the world, I do not know, I cannot understand. +But this I understand: that He has one world into +which He will not let sin enter. He has notified us +in advance that no sin, nothing that defiles, can +enter Heaven, can mar the blessedness of that holy +place. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that +hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted +up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” +We must get rid of sin to get into Heaven, to enjoy +the full favour of God. It is necessary.</p> + +<p> “Choose I must, and soon must choose<br> + Holiness, or Heaven lose.<br> + If what Heaven loves I hate,<br> + Shut for me is Heaven’s gate!</p> + +<p> “Endless sin means endless woe;<br> + Into endless sin I go<br> + If my soul, from reason rent,<br> + Takes from sin its final bent.</p> + +<p> “As the stream its channel grooves,<br> + And within that channel moves;<br> + So does habit’s deepest tide<br> + Groove its bed and there abide.</p> + +<p> “Light obeyed increaseth light;<br> + Light resisted bringeth night;<br> + Who shall give me will to choose<br> + If the love of light I lose?</p> + +<p> “Speed, my soul, this instant yield;<br> + Let the light its sceptre wield.<br> + While thy God prolongs His grace,<br> + Haste thee to His holy face.”</p> + +<p>3. This purification from sin is <i>promised</i>. +Nothing can be plainer than the promise of God on +this point. “Then will I sprinkle clean water +upon you, and ye shall be clean; from <i>all</i> your +filthiness and from <i>all</i> your idols will I cleanse +you.” When all is removed, nothing remains. When +all filthiness and all idols are taken away, none +are left.</p> + +<p>“But where sin abounded, grace did much more +abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even +so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal +life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans v. 20, +21). Grace reigns, not through sin, but “through +righteousness” which has expelled sin. Grace +brings in righteousness and sin goes out.</p> + +<p>“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, +we have fellowship one with another, and the blood +of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” +(1 John i. 7). Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>“Being then made free from sin, ye became the +servants of righteousness” (Romans vi. 18).</p> + +<p>These are sample promises and assurances any one of +which is sufficient to encourage us to believe that +our Heavenly Father will save us from all sin, if +we meet His conditions.</p> + +<p>4. And that deliverance is <i>possible</i>. It was +for this that Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, +came into the world, and suffered and died, that He +might “save His people from their sins” +(Matthew i. 21). It was for this that He shed His precious +blood: to “cleanse us from all sin.” It +was for this that the word of God, with its wonderful +promises, was given: “That by these ye might +be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust” +(2 Peter i. 4); by which is meant, escape from inbred +sin. It was for this that ministers of the Gospel—­Salvation +Army Officers—­are given, “for the +perfecting of the saints” (Eph. iv. 12), for +the saving and sanctifying of men (Acts xxvi. 18). +It is primarily for this that the Holy Ghost comes +as a baptism of fire: that sin might be consumed out +of us, so that we might be “made meet for the +inheritance of the saints in light”; that so +we might be ready without a moment’s warning +to go into the midst of the heavenly hosts in white +garments, “washed in the blood of the Lamb.” +Glory be to God for ever and ever!</p> + +<p>And shall all these mighty agents and this heavenly +provision, and these gracious purposes of God, fail +to destroy sin out of any obedient, believing heart? +Is sin omnipotent? No!</p> + +<p>If you, my brother, my sister, will look unto Jesus +just now, trusting the merits of His blood, and receive +the Holy Spirit into your heart, you shall be “made +free from sin”; it “shall not have dominion +over you.” Hallelujah! Under the fiery touch +of His holy presence, your iniquity shall be taken +away, and your sin shall be purged. And you yourself +shall burn as did the bush on the mount of God which +Moses saw; yet you, like the bush, shall not be consumed; +and by this holy fire, this flame of love, that consumes +sin, you shall be made proof against that unquenchable +fire that consumes sinners.</p> + +<p> “Come, Holy Ghost, Thy mighty aid bestowing;<br> + Destroy the works of sin, the self, the pride;<br> + Burn, burn in me, my idols overthrowing:<br> + Prepare my heart for Him, for my Lord crucified.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter6"></a> +<h1>VI.</h1> + +<h2>Power</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Just before His ascension, Jesus met His disciples +for the last time, and repeated His command that they +should “not depart from Jerusalem, but wait +for the promise of the Father,” and reiterated +His promise that they should be “baptised with +the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”</p> + +<p>Then “they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt +Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” +They were still eager for an earthly kingdom. But +“He said unto them, It is not for you to know +the time or the seasons, which the Father hath put +in His own power,” or authority. And then He +added, “But ye shall receive power after that +the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>They wanted power, and He assured them that they should +have it, but said nothing of its nature, or the work +and activities into which it would thrust them, and +for which it would equip them, beyond the fact that +they should be witnesses unto Him “in Jerusalem +and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” +After that the Holy Ghost Himself was henceforth to +be their Teacher.</p> + +<p>And then Jesus left them. Earth lost its power to +hold Him, and while they beheld Him He began to ascend; +a cloud bent low from Heaven, receiving Him out of +sight, and they were left alone, with His promise +of power ringing in their ears, and His command to +“wait for the promise of the Father” checking +any impatience that might lead them to “go a-fishing,” +as Peter had done some days before, or cause an undue +haste to begin their life-work of witnessing for Him +before God’s appointed time.</p> + +<p>For ten days they waited, not listlessly, but eagerly, +as a maid for her mistress, or a servant for his master, +who is expected to come at any moment; they forgot +their personal ambitions; they ceased to judge and +criticise one another, and in the sweet unity of brotherly +love, “with one accord” they rejoiced, +they prayed, they waited; and then on the day of Pentecost, +at their early morning prayer meeting, when they were +all present, the windows of Heaven were opened, and +such a blessing as they could not contain was poured +out upon them. “And suddenly there came a sound +from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled +all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared +unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat +upon each of them. And they were all filled with the +Holy Ghost.”</p> + +<p>This was the inaugural day of the Church of God: the +dawn of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit; the beginning +of the days of power.</p> + +<p>In the morning of that day there were only a few Christians +in the world; the New Testament was not written, and +it is doubtful if they had among them all a copy of +the Old Testament; they had no church buildings, no +colleges, no religious books and papers; they were +poor and despised, unlearned and ignorant; but before +night they had enrolled three thousand converts from +among those who, a few weeks before, had crucified +their Lord, and they had aroused and filled all Jerusalem +with questionings and amazement.</p> + +<p>What was the secret? Power. What was the secret? God +the Holy Ghost. He had come, and this work was His +work, and they were His instruments.</p> + +<p>When Jesus came, a body was prepared for Him (Hebrews +x. 5), and through that body He wrought His wondrous +works; but when the other Comforter comes, He takes +possession of those bodies that are freely and fully +presented to Him, and He touches their lips with grace; +He shines peacefully and gloriously on their faces; +He flashes beams of pity and compassion and heavenly +affection from their eyes; He kindles a fire of love +in their hearts, and lights the flame of truth in +their minds. They become His temple, and their hearts +are a holy of holies in which His blessed presence +ever abides, and from that central citadel He works, +enduing the man who has received Him with power.</p> + +<p>If you ask how the Holy Spirit can dwell within us +and work through us without destroying our personality, +I cannot tell. How can the electric fluid fill and +transform a dead wire into a live one, which you dare +not touch? How can a magnetic current fill a piece +of steel, and transform it into a mighty force which +by its touch can raise tons of iron, as a child would +lift a feather? How can fire dwell in a piece of iron +until its very appearance is that of fire, and it +becomes a fire-brand? I cannot tell.</p> + +<p>Now, what fire and electricity and magnetism do in +iron and steel, the Holy Spirit does in the spirits +of men who believe on Jesus, follow Him wholly, and +trust Him intelligently. He dwells in them, and inspires +them, till they are all alive with the very life of +God.</p> + +<p>The transformation wrought in men by the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and the power that fills them, are +amazing beyond measure. The Holy Spirit gives—­</p> + +<p>1. <i>Power over the world</i>. They become</p> + +<p> “Dead to the world and all its toys,<br> + Its idle pomps and fading joys.”</p> + +<p>The world masters and enslaves people who have not +the Holy Spirit. To one man it offers money, and he +falls down and worships; sells his conscience and +character for gold. To another it offers power, and +he falls down and worships and sacrifices his principles +and sears his conscience for power. To another it +offers pleasure; to another learning; to another fame, +and they fall down and worship, and sell themselves +for these things. But the man filled with the Holy +Ghost is free. He can turn from these things without +a pang, as he would from pebbles; or, he can take +them and use them as his servants for the glory of +God and the good of men.</p> + +<p>What did Peter and James and John care for the great +places in the kingdoms of this world after they were +filled with the Holy Ghost? They would not have exchanged +places with Herod the king or with Cæsar himself. +For the gratification of any personal ambition these +things were no more attractive to them now than the +lordship over a tribe of ants on their tiny hill. They +were now kings and priests unto God, and theirs was +an everlasting kingdom, and its glory exceeds the +glory of the kingdoms of this world as the splendour +of the sun exceeds that of the glow-worm.</p> + +<p>The head of some great business enterprises was making +many thousands of dollars every year; but when the +Holy Spirit filled him money lost its power over him. +He still retained his position, and made vast sums; +but, as a steward of the Lord, he poured it into God’s +work, and has been doing so for more than thirty years.</p> + +<p>The disciples in Jerusalem after Pentecost held all +their possessions in common, so completely were they +freed from the power and love of money.</p> + +<p>A rising young lawyer got filled with the Spirit, +and the next day said to his client: “I cannot +plead your case. I have a retainer from the Lord Jesus”; +and he became one of the mightiest preachers the world +has ever seen.</p> + +<p>A popular lad got the fiery baptism, and went to his +baseball team, and said: “Boys, you swear, and +I am now a Christian, and I cannot play with you any +more”; and God made him the wonder of all his +old friends, and a happy winner of souls.</p> + +<p>A fashionable woman got the baptism, and God gave +her power to break away from her worldly set and surroundings, +live wholly for Him, and gave her an influence that +girdled the globe.</p> + +<p>Paul said: “The world is crucified unto me, +and I unto the world.” Men could whip, and stone, +and imprison his body, and cut off his head, but his +soul was free. It was enslaved and driven by no unholy +or inordinate ambition, by no lust for gold, by no +desire for power or fame, by no fear of man, by no +shame of worldly censure or adverse public opinion. +He had power over the world, and this same power is +the birthright of every converted man, and the present +possession of every one who is wholly sanctified by +the baptism with the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Power over the flesh</i>. The body which God +intended for a “house beautiful” for the +soul, and a temple holy unto Himself, is often reduced +to a sty, where the imprisoned soul wallows in lusts +and passions, and degrades itself below the level of +beasts. But this baptism gives a man power over his +body.</p> + +<p>God has given to man such desires and passions as +are necessary to secure his continued existence, and +not one is in itself evil, but good and only good; +and when controlled and used, but not abused, will +help to develop and maintain the purest and highest +manhood. The appetites for food and drink are necessary +to life. Another desire is intended to secure the +continuance of the human race. And so all the desires +and appetites of the body have useful ends, and were +given to us in love by our Heavenly Father for high +and essential purposes, and are necessary to us as +human beings.</p> + +<p>But the soul, cut off from fellowship with God, by +sin, seeks satisfaction in sensual excesses, and the +unlawful gratification of these appetites, and so +sinks to depths of degradation to which no beast ever +falls. Thus man becomes a slave; swollen and raging +passion takes the place of innocent appetites and desires.</p> + +<p>Now, when the Holy Spirit enters the heart and sanctifies +the soul, He does not destroy these desires, but He +purifies and regulates them. He reinforces the soul +with the fear and love of God, and gives it power, +complete power, over the fleshly appetites. He restores +it to its full fellowship with God and its kingship +over the body.</p> + +<p>But while these appetites and desires are not in themselves +sinful, but are necessary for our welfare and our complete +manhood, and while their diseased and abnormal power +is cured when we are sanctified, they are still avenues +through which we may be tempted. Therefore, they must +be guarded with care and ruled in wisdom. Many people +stumble at and reject the doctrine of entire sanctification, +because they do not understand these things. They +mistake that which is natural and essential to a human +being for the diseased and abnormal propensity caused +by sin, and so miss the blessed truth of full salvation.</p> + +<p>I knew a doctor, who had used tobacco for over sixty +years, delivered from the abnormal appetite instantly +through sanctification of the Spirit. I knew an old +man, who had been a drunkard for over fifty years, +similarly delivered. I knew a young man, the slave +of a vicious habit of the flesh, who was set free +at once by the fiery baptism. The electric current +cannot transform the dead wire into a live one quicker +than the Holy Spirit can flood a soul with light and +love, destroy the carnal mind, and fill a man with +power over all sin.</p> + +<p>3. <i>Power over the Devil</i>. The indwelling presence +of the Holy Spirit destroys all doubt as to the personality +of the Devil. He is discerned, and his malice is felt +and known as never before.</p> + +<p>In the dark a man may be so skilfully attacked that +his enemy is not discovered, but not in the day. Many +people in these days deny that there is any Devil, +only evil; but they are in the dark, so much in the +dark that they not only say that there is no Devil, +but that there is no personal God, only good. But the +day comes with the Holy Spirit’s entrance, and +then God is intimately known and the Devil is discovered. +And as he assailed Jesus after His baptism with the +Spirit, so he does to-day all who receive the Holy +Ghost. He comes as an angel of light to deceive, and +as a roaring lion to devour and overcome with fear; +but the soul filled with the Spirit outwits the Devil, +and, clad in the whole armour of God, overcomes the +old enemy.</p> + +<p>“Power over all the power of the enemy” +is God’s purpose for all His children. Power +to do the will of God patiently and effectively, with +naturalness and ease, or to suffer the will of God +with patience and good cheer, comes with this blessed +baptism. It is power for service or sacrifice, according +to God’s will. Have you this power? If not, +it is for you. Yield yourself fully to Christ just +now, and if you ask in faith you shall receive.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> +<a name="chapter7"></a> +<h1>VII.</h1> + +<h2>Trying the Spirits</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Those who have not the Holy Spirit, or who do not +heed Him, fall easily and naturally into formalism, +substituting lifeless ceremonies, sacraments, genuflections, +and ritualistic performances for the free, glad, living +worship inspired by the indwelling Spirit. They sing, +but not from the heart. They say their prayers, but +they do not really pray. “I prayed last night, +mother,” said a child. “Why, my child, +you pray every night!” replied the mother. “No,” +said the child, “I only said prayers, but last +night I really prayed.” And his face shone. +He had opened his heart to the Holy Spirit, and had +at last really talked with God and worshipped.</p> + +<p>But those who receive the Holy Spirit may fall into +fanaticism, unless they follow the command of John +to “try the spirits, whether they are of God.”</p> + +<p>We are commanded to “despise not prophesyings,” +but at the same time we are commanded to “prove +all things.” “Many false prophets are +gone out into the world,” and, if possible, will +lead us astray. So we must beware. As some one has +written, we must “Believe not every spirit; +regard not, trust not, follow not, every pretender +to the Spirit of God, or every professor of vision, +or inspiration, or revelation from God.”</p> + +<p>The higher and more intense the life, the more carefully +must it be guarded, lest it be endangered and go astray. +It is so in the natural world, and likewise in the +spiritual world.</p> + +<p>When Satan can no longer rock people to sleep with +religious lullabys, or satisfy them with the lifeless +form, then he comes as an angel of light, probably +in the person of some professor or teacher of religion, +and seeks to usurp the place of the Holy Spirit; but +instead of leading “into all truth,” he +leads the unwary soul into deadly error; instead of +directing him on to the highway of holiness, and into +the path of perfect peace, where no ravenous beast +ever comes, he leads him into a wilderness where the +soul, stripped of its beautiful garments of salvation, +is robbed and wounded and left to die, if some good +Samaritan, with patient pity and Christlike love, +come not that way.</p> + +<p>1. When the Holy Spirit comes in His fullness, He +strips men of their self-righteousness and pride and +conceit. They see themselves as the chief of sinners, +and realise that only through the stripes of Jesus +are they healed; and ever after, as they live in the +Spirit, their boast is in Him and their glory is in +the cross. Remembering the hole of the pit from which +they were digged, they are filled with tender pity +for all who are out of the way; and, while they do +not excuse or belittle sin, yet they are slow to believe +evil, and their judgments are full of charity.</p> + +<p> “Judge not; the workings of his +brain<br> + And of his heart thou canst not +see:<br> + What looks to thy dim eyes a stain,<br> + In God’s pure light may only +be<br> + A scar, brought from some well-won field,<br> + Where thou wouldst only faint and yield.”</p> + +<p>But the man who has been thus snared by Satan forgets +his own past miserable state, and boasts of his righteousness, +and thanks God that he was never as other men, and +he begins to beat his fellow-servants with heavy denunciations, +and thrust them through with sharp criticisms, and +pelt them with hard words. He ceases to pity, and +begins to condemn; he no longer warns and entreats +men in tender love, but is quick to believe evil, and +swift to pass judgment, not only upon their actions, +but upon their motives as well.</p> + +<p>True charity has no fellowship with deeds of darkness. +It never calls evil good, it does not wink at iniquity, +but it is as far removed from this sharp, condemning +spirit as light is from darkness, as honey is from +vinegar. It is quick to condemn sin, but is full of +saving, long-suffering compassion for the sinner.</p> + +<p>2. A humble, teachable mind marks those in whom the +Holy Spirit dwells. They esteem very highly in love +those who are over them in the Lord, and are glad +to be admonished by them. They submit themselves one +to the other in the fear of the Lord, welcome instruction +and correction, and esteem “open rebuke better +than secret love” (Proverbs xxvii. 5). They +believe that the Lord has yet many things to say unto +them, and they are willing and glad for Him to say +them by whom He will, but especially by their leaders +and their brethren. While they do not fawn and cringe +before men, nor believe everything that is said to +them, without proving it by the word and Spirit of +God, they believe that God “gave some, apostles; +and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, +pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, +for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the +body of Christ”; and, like Cornelius, they are +ready to hear these appointed ministers, and receive +the word of the Lord from them.</p> + +<p>But Satan seeks to destroy all this lowliness of spirit +and humbleness of mind. Those in whom his deadly work +has begun are “wiser in their own conceit than +seven men that can render a reason.” They are +wiser than all their teachers, and no man can instruct +them. One of these deluded souls, who had previously +been marked by modesty and humility, declared of certain +of God’s chosen leaders whose spiritual knowledge +and wisdom were everywhere recognised, that “the +whole of them knew no more about the Holy Ghost than +an old goose.” Paul, Luther, and Wesley were +much troubled, and their work greatly hurt, by some +of these misguided souls, and every great spiritual +awakening is likely to be marred more or less by such +people; so that we cannot be too much on our guard +against false spirits who would counterfeit the work +and leadings of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>It is this huge conceit that has led some men to announce +themselves as apostles and prophets to whom all men +must listen, or fall under the wrath of God; while +others have declared that they were living in resurrection +bodies and should not die; and yet others have reached +that pitch of fanaticism where they could calmly proclaim +themselves to be the Messiah, or the Holy Ghost in +bodily form. Such people will be quick to deny the +infallibility of the Pope, while they assume their +own infallibility, and denounce all who dispute it.</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit may lead to a holy rivalry in love +and humility and brotherly kindness and self-denial +and good works, but He never leads men into the swelling +conceit of such exclusive knowledge and superior wisdom +that they can no longer be taught by their fellow-men.</p> + +<p>3. Again, the man who is filled with the Spirit is +tolerant of those who differ from him in opinion, +in doctrine. He is firm in his own convictions, and +ready at all times with meekness and fear to explain +and defend the doctrines which he holds and is convinced +are according to God’s word, but he does not +condemn and consign to damnation all those who differ +from him. He is glad to believe that men are often +better than their creed, and may be saved in spite +of it; that, like mountains whose bases are bathed +with sunshine and clothed with fruitful fields and +vineyards, while their tops are covered with dark clouds, +so men’s hearts are often fruitful in the graces +of charity, while their heads are yet darkened by +doctrinal error.</p> + +<p>Anyway, as “the servant of the Lord,” +he will “not strive; but be gentle unto all +men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing +those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure +will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the +truth; and that they may recover themselves out of +the snare of the Devil” (2 Timothy ii. 24-26).</p> + +<p>But when Satan comes as an angel of light he will, +under guise of love for and loyalty to the truth, +introduce the spirit of intolerance. It was this spirit +that crucified Jesus; that burned Huss and Cranmer +at the stake; that strangled Savonarola; that inspired +the massacre of St. Bartholomew and the horrors of +the Inquisition; and it is the same spirit, in a milder +but possibly more subtle form, that blinds the eyes +of many professing Christians to any good in those +who differ from them in doctrine, forms of worship +or methods of government. They murder love to protect +what they often blindly call truth. What is truth without +love? A dead thing, an encumbrance, the letter that +killeth!</p> + +<p>The body is necessary to our life in this world, but +life can exist in a deformed and even mutilated body; +and such a body with life in it is better than the +most perfect body that is only a corpse. So, while +truth is most precious, and sound doctrine to be esteemed +more than silver and gold, yet love can exist where +truth is not held in its most perfect and complete +forms, and love is the one thing needful.</p> + +<p> “The love of God is broader<br> + Than the measure of man’s +mind:<br> + And the heart of the Eternal<br> + Is most wonderfully kind.”</p> + +<p>4. The Holy Ghost begets a spirit of unity among Christians. +People who have been sitting behind their sectarian +fences in self-complacent ease, or proud indifference, +or proselytising zeal, or grim defiance, are suddenly +lifted above the fence, and find sweet fellowship +with each other, when He comes into their hearts.</p> + +<p>They delight in each other’s society; they each +esteem others better than themselves, and in honour +they prefer one another before themselves. They fulfil +the Psalmist’s ideal: “Behold, how good +and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together +in unity.” Here is a picture of the unity of +Christians in the beginning in Jerusalem: “And +they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they +spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude +of them that believed were of one heart and of one +soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things +which he possessed was his own; but they had all things +common.” What an ideal is this! And since it +has been attained once, it can be attained again and +retained, but only by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. +It was for this that Jesus poured out His heart in +His great intercessory prayer, recorded in John xvii., +just before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. +He says, “I pray for them.... Neither pray I +for these alone, but for them also which shall believe +on Me through their word; that they all may be one.” +And what was the standard of unity to which He would +have us come? Listen!</p> + +<p>“As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; +that they also may be one in Us; that the world may +believe that Thou hast sent Me.” Such unity +has a wondrous power to compel the belief of worldly +men. “And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have +given them; that they may be one, even as We are one; +I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfect +in one; and that the world may <i>know</i> that Thou +hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved +Me.” Wondrous unity! Wondrous love!</p> + +<p>It is for this His blessed heart eternally yearns, +and it is for this that the Holy Spirit works in the +hearts of those who receive Him. But Satan ever seeks +to destroy this holy love and divine unity. When he +comes, he arouses suspicions, he stirs up strife, +he quenches the spirit of intercessory prayer, he +engenders backbitings, and causes separations.</p> + +<p>After enumerating various Christian graces, and urging +the Colossians to put them on, Paul adds: “And +above all these things, put on charity,” or +love, “which is the bond of perfectness” +(Col. iii. 14). These graces were garments, and love +was the girdle which bound and held them together; +and so love is the bond that holds true Christians +together.</p> + +<p>Divine love is the great test by which we are to try +ourselves and all teachers and spirits.</p> + +<p>Love is not puffed up. Love is not bigoted. Love is +not intolerant. Love is not schismatic. Love is loyal +to Jesus and to all His people. If we have this love +shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, we shall +discern the voice of our Good Shepherd, and we shall +not be deceived by the voice of the stranger; and so +we shall be saved from both formalism and fanaticism.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter8"></a> +<h1>VIII.</h1> + +<h2>Guidance</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>It is the work of the Holy Spirit to guide the people +of God through the uncertainties and dangers and duties +of this life to their home in Heaven. When He led +the children of Israel out of Egypt, by the hand of +Moses, He guided them through the waste, mountainous +wilderness, in a pillar of cloud by day and of fire +by night, thus assuring their comfort and safety. And +this was but a type of His perpetual spiritual guidance +of His people.</p> + +<p>“But how may I certainly know what God wants +of me?” is sure to become the earnest and, oftentimes, +the agonising cry of every humble and devoutly zealous +young Christian. “How may I know the guidance +of the Holy Spirit?” is asked again and again.</p> + +<p>1. It is well for us to get it fixed in our minds +that we need to be guided always by Him. A ship was +wrecked on a rocky coast far out of the course that +the captain thought he was taking. On examination, +it was found that the compass had been slightly deflected +by a bit of metal that had lodged in the box.</p> + +<p>But the voyage of life on which we each one sail is +beset by as many dangers as the ship at sea, and how +shall we surely steer our course to our heavenly harbour +without Divine guidance? There is a wellnigh infinite +number of influences to deflect us from the safe and +certain course. We start out in the morning, and we +know not what person we may meet, what paragraph we +may read, what word may be spoken, what letter we +may receive, what subtle temptation may assail or +allure us, what immediate decisions we may have to +make during the day, that may turn us almost imperceptibly, +but none the less surely, from the right way. We need +the guidance of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>2. We not only need Divine guidance, but we may have +it. God’s word assures us of this. Oh! how my +heart was comforted and assured one morning by these +words: “And the Lord shall guide thee continually” +(Isaiah lviii. 11). Not occasionally, not spasmodically, +but “continually.” Hallelujah! The Psalmist +says: “This God is our God for ever and ever: +He will be our Guide even unto death” (Psalm +xlviii. 14). Again, he says: “The meek will +He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His +way” (Psalm xxv. 9). And again, “I will +instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou +shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye” (Psalm +xxxii. 8). And again, “Thou shalt guide me with +Thy counsel” (Psalm lxxiii. 24). Jesus said +of the Holy Spirit: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit +of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” +(John xvi. 13). And Paul wrote: “As many as are +led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” +(Romans viii. 14).</p> + +<p>These Scriptures establish the fact that the children +of God may be guided always by the Spirit of God.</p> + +<p> “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,<br> + Pilgrim through this barren land!<br> + I am weak, but Thou art mighty:<br> + Hold me with Thy powerful hand.”</p> + +<p>3. How does God guide us?</p> + +<p>Paul says: “We walk by faith, not by sight,” +and, “The just shall live by faith,” so +we may conclude:—­</p> + +<p>(a) That the guidance of the Holy Spirit is such as +still to demand the exercise of faith. God never leads +us in such a way as to do away with the necessity +of faith. When God warned Noah, we read that it was +by faith that Noah was led to build the ark. When +God told Abraham to go to a land which He would show +him, it was by faith that Abraham went (Hebrews xi. +7, 8). If we believe, we shall surely be guided; but +if we do not believe, we shall be left to ourselves. +Without faith it is impossible to please God, or to +follow where He leads. Again, the Psalmist says, “The +meek will He guide in judgment,” from which +we gather:—­</p> + +<p>(b) That the Spirit guides us in such manner as to +demand the exercise of our best judgment. He enlightens +our understanding and directs our judgment by sound +reason and sense.</p> + +<p>I knew a man who was eager to obey God, and to be +led by the Spirit, but who had the mistaken idea that +the Holy Spirit sets aside human judgment and common +sense, and speaks directly upon the most minute and +commonplace matters. He wanted the Holy Spirit to +direct him just how much to eat at each meal, and he +has been known to take food out of his mouth at what +he supposed to be the Holy Spirit’s notification +that he had eaten enough, and that if he swallowed +that mouthful, it would be in violation of the leadings +of the Spirit.</p> + +<p>No doubt, the Spirit will help an honest man to arrive +at a safe judgment even in matters of this kind, but +it will doubtless be through the use of his sanctified +common sense. Otherwise, he is reduced to a state +of mental infancy, and kept in intellectual swaddling +clothes. He will guide us in judgment; but it is only +as we resolutely, and in the best light we have, exercise +judgment.</p> + +<p>John Wesley said that God usually guided him by presenting +reasons to his mind for any given course of action.</p> + +<p>(c) The Psalmist says, “Thou shalt guide me +with Thy counsel,” and “I will instruct +thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go.” +Now, counsel, instruction, and teaching not only imply +effort upon the part of the teacher, but also study +and close attention on the part of the one being taught. +So this guidance of the Holy Spirit is such as will +require us to attentively listen, diligently study, +and patiently learn the lessons He would teach us. +And so we see that the Holy Spirit does not set aside +our powers and faculties, but seeks to awaken and +stir them into full activity, and develop them into +well-rounded perfection, and thus make them channels +through which He can intelligently influence and direct +us.</p> + +<p>What He seeks to do is to illuminate our whole spiritual +being, as the sun illuminates our physical being, +and bring us into such union and sympathy, such oneness +of thought, desire, affection, and purpose with God, +that we shall, by a kind of spiritual instinct, know +at all times the mind of God concerning us, and never +be in doubt about His will.</p> + +<p>4. The Holy Spirit guides us—­</p> + +<p>(a) By opening up to our minds the deep, sanctifying +truths of the Bible, and especially by revealing to +us the character and spirit of Jesus and His Apostles, +and leading us to follow in their footsteps—­the +footsteps of their faith and love and unselfish devotion +to God and man, even unto the laying down of their +lives.</p> + +<p>(b) By the circumstances and surroundings of our daily +life.</p> + +<p>(c) By the counsel of others, especially of devout, +and wise, and experienced men and women of God.</p> + +<p>(d) By deep inward conviction, which increases as +we wait upon Him in prayer and readiness to obey. +It is by this sovereign conviction that men are called +to preach, to go to foreign fields as missionaries, +to devote their time, talents, money, and lives to +God’s work for the bodies and souls of men.</p> + +<p>5. Why do people seek for guidance and not find it?</p> + +<p>(a) Because they do not diligently study God’s +word, and seek to be filled with its truths and principles. +They neglect the cultivation of their minds and hearts +in the school of Christ, and so miss Divine guidance. +One of the mightiest men of God now living used to +carry his Bible with him into the coal mine when only +a boy, and spent his spare time filling his mind and +heart with its heavenly truths, and so prepared himself +to be divinely led in mighty labours for God.</p> + +<p>(b) They do not humbly accept the daily providences, +the circumstances, and conditions of their everyday +life as a part of God’s present plan for them; +as His school in which He would train them for greater +things; as His vineyard in which He would have them +diligently labour.</p> + +<p>A young woman imagined she was called to devote herself +entirely to saving souls; but under the searching +training through which she had to pass saw her selfishness, +and she said she would have to return home, and live +a holy life there, and seek to get her family saved—­something +which she had utterly neglected—­before +she could go into the work. If we are not faithful +at home, or in the shop, or mill, or store where we +work, we shall miss God’s way for us.</p> + +<p>(c) Because they are not teachable, and are unwilling +to receive instruction from other Christians. They +are not humble-minded.</p> + +<p>(d) Because they do not wait on God, and listen and +heed the inner leadings of the Holy Spirit. They are +self-willed; they want their own way. Some one has +said, “That which is often asked of God is not +so much His will and way, as His approval of our way.” +And another has said: “God’s guidance is +plain, when we are true.” If we promptly and +gladly obey, we shall not miss the way. Paul said +of himself, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly +vision.” He obeyed God at all costs, and so the +Holy Spirit could guide him.</p> + +<p>(e) Because of fear and unbelief. It was this fearfulness +of unbelief that caused the Israelites to turn back, +and not go into Canaan when Caleb and Joshua assured +them that God would help them to possess the land. +They lost sight of God, and feared the giants and +walled cities, and so missed God’s way for them +and perished in the wilderness.</p> + +<p>(f) Because they do not take everything promptly and +confidently to God in prayer.</p> + +<p>Paul tells us to be “instant in prayer”; +and I am persuaded that it is slowness and delay to +pray, and sloth and sleepiness in prayer, that rob +God’s children of the glad assurance of His +guidance in all things.</p> + +<p>(g) Because of impatience and haste. Some of God’s +plans for us unfold slowly, and we must patiently +and calmly wait on Him in faith and faithfulness, +assured that in due time He will make plain His way +for us, if our faith fail not. It is never God’s +will that we should get into a headlong hurry; but +that, with patient steadfastness, we should learn +to stand still when the pillar of cloud and fire does +not move, and that with loving confidence and glad +promptness we should strike our tents and march forward +when He leads.</p> + +<p> “When we cannot see our way,<br> + Let us trust and still obey;<br> + He who bids us forward go,<br> + Cannot fail the way to show.<br> + Though the sea be deep and wide,<br> + Though a passage seem denied;<br> + Fearless, let us still proceed,<br> + Since the Lord vouchsafes to lead.”</p> + +<p>Finally, we may rest assured that the Holy Spirit +never leads His people to do anything that is wrong, +or that is contrary to the will of God as revealed +in the Bible. He never leads anyone to be impolite +and discourteous. “Be courteous” is a Divine +command. He would have us respect the minor graces +of gentle, kindly manners, as well as the great laws +of holiness and righteousness.</p> + +<p>He may sometimes lead us in ways that are hard for +flesh and blood, and that bring to us sorrow and loss +in this life. He led Jesus into the wilderness to +be sore tried by the Devil, and to Pilate’s +judgment hall, and to the cross. He led Paul in ways +that meant imprisonment, stonings, whippings, hunger +and cold, and bitter persecution and death. But He +upheld Paul until he cried out: “I take pleasure +in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in +persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake.” +“Yea,” said he, “I glory in my infirmities, +that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” +Hallelujah! Oh, to be thus led by our Heavenly Guide!</p> + +<p> “He leadeth me! Oh, blessed +thought!<br> + Oh, words with heavenly comfort +fraught!<br> + Whate’er I do, where’er +I be,<br> + Still ’tis God’s +hand that leadeth me.</p> + +<p> “Sometimes ’mid scenes +of deepest gloom,<br> + Sometimes where Eden’s +bowers bloom,<br> + By waters still, o’er +troubled sea,<br> + Still ’tis God’s +hand that leadeth me.</p> + +<p> “Lord, I will clasp Thy hand +in mine,<br> + Nor ever murmur nor repine,<br> + Content, whatever lot I see,<br> + Since ’tis my God that +leadeth me.</p> + +<p> “And when my task on earth +is done,<br> + When by Thy grace the victory’s +won,<br> + E’en death’s cold +wave I will not flee,<br> + Since God through Jordan leadeth +me.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter9"></a> +<h1>IX.</h1> + +<h2>The Meek and the Lowly Heart</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>I know a man whose daily prayer for years was that +he might be meek and lowly in heart as was his Master. +“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me,” +said Jesus; “for I am meek and lowly in heart.”</p> + +<p>How lowly Jesus was! He was the Lord of life and glory. +He made the worlds, and upholds them by His word of +power (John i., Hebrews i.). But He humbled Himself, +and became man, and was born of the Virgin in a manger +among the cattle. He lived among the common people, +and worked at the carpenter’s bench. And then, +anointed with the Holy Spirit, He went about doing +good, preaching the Gospel to the poor, and ministering +to the manifold needs of the sick and sinful and sorrowing. +He touched the lepers; He was the Friend of publicans +and sinners. His whole life was a ministry of mercy +to those who most needed Him. He humbled Himself to +our low estate. He was a King who came “lowly, +and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of +an ass” (Zech. ix. 9). He was a King, but His +crown was of thorns, and a cross was His throne.</p> + +<p>What a picture Paul gives us of the mind and heart +of Jesus! He exhorts the Philippians, saying, “Let +nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in +lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than +themselves”; and then he adds, “Let this +mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, +being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to +be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, +and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made +in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion +as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto +death, even the death of the cross.”</p> + +<p>Now, when the Holy Spirit finds His way into the heart +of a man, the Spirit of Jesus has come to that man, +and leads him to the same meekness of heart and lowly +service that were seen in the Master.</p> + +<p>Ambition for place and power and money and fame vanishes, +and in its place is a consuming desire to be good +and do good, to accomplish in full the blessed, the +beneficent will of God.</p> + +<p>Some time ago I met a woman who, as a trained nurse +in Paris, nursing rich, English-speaking foreigners, +received pay that in a few years would have made her +independently wealthy; but the spirit of Jesus came +into her heart, and she is now nursing the poor, and +giving her life to them, and doing for them service +the most loathsome and exacting, and doing it with +a smiling face, for her food and clothes.</p> + +<p>Some able men in one of our largest American cities +lost their spiritual balance, cut themselves loose +from all other Christians, and made for a time quite +a religious stir among many good people. They were +very clear and powerful in their presentation of certain +phases of truth, but they were also very strong, if +not bitter, in their denunciations of all existing +religious organisations. They attacked the churches +and The Salvation Army, pointing out what they considered +wrong so skilfully, and with such professions of sanctity, +that many people were made most dissatisfied with the +churches and with The Army.</p> + +<p>An Army Captain listened to them, and was greatly +moved by their fervour, their burning appeals, their +religious ecstasy, and their denunciations of the +lukewarmness of other Christians, including The Army. +She began to wonder if after all they were not right, +and whether or not the Holy Spirit was amongst us. +Her heart was full of distress, and she cried to God. +And then the vision of our Slum Officers rose before +her eyes. She saw their devotion, their sacrifice, +their lowly, hidden service, year after year, among +the poor and ignorant and vicious, and she said to +herself, “Is not this the Spirit of Jesus? Would +these men, who denounce us so, be willing to forgo +their religious ecstasies and spend their lives in +such lowly, unheralded service?” And the mists +that had begun to blind her eyes were swept away, and +she saw Jesus still amongst us going about doing good +in the person of our Slum Officers and of all who +for His name’s sake sacrifice their time and +money and strength to bless and save their fellow-men.</p> + +<p>You who have visions of glory and rapturous delight, +and so count yourselves filled with the Spirit, do +these visions lead you to virtue and to lowly, loving +service? If not, take heed to yourselves, lest, exalted +like Capernaum to Heaven, you are at last cast down +to Hell. Thank God for the mounts of transfiguration +where we behold His glory! but down below in the valley +are children possessed of devils, and to them He would +have us go with the glory of the mount on our faces, +and lowly love and vigorous faith in our hearts, and +clean hands ready for any service. He would have us +give ourselves to them; and if we love Him, if we +follow Him, if we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit, +we will.</p> + +<p>A Captain used to slip out of bed early in the morning +to pray, and then black his own and his Lieutenant’s +boots, and God mightily blessed him. Recently I saw +him, now a Commissioner, with thousands of Officers +and Soldiers under his command, at an outing in the +woods by the lake shore, looking after poor and forgotten +Soldiers, and giving them food with his own hand. Like +the Lord, his eyes seemed to be in every place beholding +opportunities to do good, and his feet and hands always +followed his eyes; and this is the fruit of the indwelling +Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter10"></a> +<h1>X.</h1> + +<h2>Hope</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Are you ever cast down and depressed in spirit? Listen +to Paul: “Now, the God of hope fill you with +all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound +in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” +(Romans xv. 13). What cheer is in those words! They +ring like the shout of a triumph.</p> + +<p>1. God Himself is “the God of hope.” There +is no gloom, no depression, no wasting sickness of +deferred hope in Him. He is a brimming fountain and +ocean of hope eternally, and He is our God. He is +our Hope.</p> + +<p>2. Out of His infinite fullness He is to fill us; +not half fill us, but fill us with joy, “all +joy,” hallelujah! “and peace.”</p> + +<p>3. And this is not by some condition or means that +is so high and difficult that we cannot perform our +part, but it is simply “in believing “—­something +which the little child or the aged philosopher, the +poor man and the rich man, the ignorant and the learned +can do. And the result will be:—­</p> + +<p>4. Abounding “hope through the power of the +Holy Ghost.” And what power is that? If it is +physical power, then the power of a million Niagaras +and flowing oceans and rushing worlds is as nothing +compared to it. If it is mental power, then the power +of Plato and Bacon and Milton and Shakespeare and +Newton is as the light of a fire-fly to the sun when +compared to it. If it is spiritual power, then there +is nothing with which it can be compared. But suppose +it is all three in one, infinite and eternal! This +is the power, throbbing with love and mercy, to which +we are to bring our little hearts by living faith, +and God will fill us with joy and peace and hope by +the incoming of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>God’s people are a hopeful people. They hope +in God, with whom there is no change, no weakness, +no decay. In the darkest night and the fiercest storm +they still hope in Him, though it may be feebly. But +He would have His people “abound in hope” +so that they should always be buoyant, triumphant.</p> + +<p>But how can this be in a world such as this? We are +surrounded by awful, mysterious, and merciless forces, +that at any moment may overwhelm us. The fire may +burn us, the water may drown us, the hurricane may +sweep us away, friends may desert us, foes may master +us. There is the depression that comes from failing +health, from poverty, from overwork and sleepless nights +and constant care, from thwarted plans, disappointed +ambitions, slighted love, and base ingratitude. Old +age comes on with its grey hairs, failing strength, +dimness of sight, dullness of hearing, tottering step, +shortness of breath, and general weakness and decay. +The friends of youth die, and a new, strange, pushing +generation that knows not the old man, comes elbowing +him aside and taking his place. Under some blessed +outpouring of the Spirit the work of God revives, +vile sinners are saved, Zion puts on her beautiful +garments, reforms of all kind advance, the desert +blossoms as the rose, the waste place becomes a fruitful +field, and the millennium seems just at hand; and then +the spiritual tide recedes, the forces of evil are +emboldened, they mass themselves and again sweep over +the heritage of the Lord, leaving it waste and desolate, +and the battle must be fought over again.</p> + +<p>How can one be always hopeful, always abounding in +hope, in such a world? Well, hallelujah! it is possible +“through the power of the Holy Ghost,” +but only through His power; and this power will not +fail so long as we fix our eyes on eternal things and +believe.</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit, dwelling within, turns our eyes from +that which is temporal to that which is eternal; from +the trial itself to God’s purpose in the trial; +from the present pain to the precious promise.</p> + +<p>I am now writing in a little city made rich by vast +potteries. If the dull, heavy clay on the potter’s +wheel and in the fiery oven could think and speak, +it would doubtless cry out against the fierce agony; +but if it could foresee the purpose of the potter, +and the thing of use and beauty he meant to make it, +it would nestle low under his hand and rejoice in +hope.</p> + +<p>We are clay in the hand of the Divine Potter, but +we can think and speak, and in some measure understand +His high purpose in us. It is the work of the Holy +Spirit to make us understand. And if we will not be +dull and senseless and unbelieving, He will illuminate +us and fill us with peaceful, joyous hope.</p> + +<p>1. He would reveal to us that our Heavenly Potter +has Himself been on the wheel and in the fiery furnace, +learning obedience and being fashioned into “the +Captain of our salvation” by the things which +He suffered. When we are tempted and tried, and tempest-tossed, +He raises our hope by showing us Jesus suffering and +sympathising with us, tempted in all points as we are, +and so able and wise and willing to help us in our +struggle and conflict (Hebrews ii. 9-18). He assures +us that Jesus, into whose hands is committed all power +in Heaven and earth, is our elder Brother, “touched +with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews +iv. 15), and He encourages us to rest in Him and not +be afraid; and so we abound in hope, through His power +as we believe.</p> + +<p>2. He reveals to us the eternal purpose of God in +our trials and difficulties. Listen to Paul: “All +things work together for good to them that love God.” +“We know <i>this</i>,” says Paul (Romans +viii. 28). But how can this be? Ah! there is where +faith must be exercised. It is “in believing” +that we “abound in hope through the power of +the Holy Ghost.”</p> + +<p>God’s wisdom and ability to make all things +work together for our good are not to be measured +by our understanding, but to be firmly held by our +faith. My child is in serious difficulty and does +not know how to help himself; but I say, “Leave +it to me.” He may not understand how I am to +help him, but he trusts me, and rejoices in hope. +We are God’s dear children, and He knows how +to help us, and make all things work together for +our good, if we will only commit ourselves to Him +in faith.</p> + +<p> “Thou art as much His care as if +beside<br> + Nor man nor angel lived in Heaven +or earth;<br> + Thus sunbeams pour alike their glorious +tide,<br> + To light up worlds, or wake an insect’s +mirth.”</p> + +<p>Again, afflictions overtake us, and now the Holy Spirit +encourages our hope and makes it to abound by such +promises as these: “Our light affliction, which +is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding +and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at +the things which are seen, but at the things which +are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, +but the things which are not seen are eternal” +(2 Cor. iv. 17, 18). But such a promise as that only +mocks us if we do not believe. “In all their +affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His +presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He +redeemed them; and He bare them, and He carried them +all the days of old” (Isaiah lxiii. 9). And +He is just the same to-day. To some He says: “I +have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” +(Isaiah xlviii 10), and nestling down into His will +and “believing,” they “abound in +hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.”</p> + +<p>He turns our eyes back upon Job in his loss and pain; +upon Joseph sold into Egyptian slavery; Daniel in +the lions’ den; the three Hebrews in the burning +fiery furnace, and Paul in prison and shipwreck and +manifold perils; and, showing us their steadfastness +and their final triumph, He prompts us to hope in God.</p> + +<p>When weakness of body overtakes us, He encourages +us with such assurances as these: “My flesh +and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my +heart, and my portion for ever” (Psalm lxxiii. +26), and the words of Paul: “Though our outward +man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” +(2 Cor. iv. 16).</p> + +<p>When old age comes creeping on apace, He has promised +to meet the need that our hope fail not. Listen to +David! He prays: “Cast me not off in the time +of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.... +Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake +me not; until I have showed Thy strength unto this +generation, and Thy power to every one that is to +come” (Psalm lxxi. 9, 18). And through Isaiah +the Lord replies: “Even to your old age I am +He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have +made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will +deliver you” (Isaiah xlvi. 4). And David cries +out, “The righteous shall flourish like the +palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those +that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish +in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth +fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing, +to show that the Lord is upright” (Psalm xcii. +12-15).</p> + +<p>These are sample promises of which the Bible is full, +and which have been adapted by infinite wisdom and +love to meet us at every point of doubt and fear and +need, that, in believing them, we may have a steadfast +and glad hope in God. He is pledged to help us. He +says: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be +not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen +thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee +with the right hand of My righteousness” (Isaiah +xli. 10).</p> + +<p>When all God’s waves and billows seemed to sweep +over David, and his soul was bowed within him, three +times he cried out: “Why art thou cast down, +O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope +thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help +of His countenance” (Psalm xlii. 5). And Jeremiah, +remembering the wormwood and the gall, and the deep +mire of the dungeon into which they had plunged him, +and from which he had scarcely been delivered, said: +“It is good that a man should both hope and +quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam. +iii. 26).</p> + +<p>When the Holy Spirit is come, He brings to remembrance +these precious promises, and makes them living words; +and, if we believe, the whole heaven of our soul shall +be lighted up with abounding hope. Hallelujah! It +is only through ignorance of God’s promises, +or through weak and wavering faith, that hope is dimmed. +Oh, that we may heed the still small voice of the +Heavenly Comforter, and steadfastly, joyously believe!</p> + +<p> “My hope is built on nothing less<br> + Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;<br> + When all around my soul gives way,<br> + He then is all my Hope and Stay.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter11"></a> +<h1>XI.</h1> + +<h2>The Holy Spirit’s Substitute for Gossip and Evil-Speaking</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>The other day I heard a man of God say: “We +cannot bridle the tongues of the people among whom +we live: they will talk”; and by talk he meant +gossip and criticism and fault-finding.</p> + +<p> “You never can tell when you send +a word—­<br> + Like an arrow shot from a bow<br> + By an archer blind—­be it cruel +or kind,<br> + Just where it will chance to go.<br> + It may pierce the breast of your dearest +friend,<br> + Tipped with its poison or balm:<br> + To a stranger’s heart in life’s +great mart<br> + It may carry its pain or its calm.”</p> + +<p>The wise mother, when she finds her little boy playing +with a sharp knife, or the looking-glass, or some +dainty dish, does not snatch it away with a slap on +his cheek or harsh words, but quietly and gently substitutes +a safer and more interesting toy, and so avoids a +storm.</p> + +<p>A sensible father who finds his boy reading a book +of dangerous tendency, will kindly point out its character +and substitute a better book that is equally interesting.</p> + +<p>When children want to spend their evenings on the +street, thoughtful and intelligent parents will seek +to make their evenings at home more healthfully attractive.</p> + +<p>When a man seeks to rid his mind of evil and hurtful +thoughts, he will find it wise to follow Paul’s +exhortation to the Philippians: “Brethren, whatsoever +things are true,... honest,... just,... pure,... lovely,... +of good report;... if there be any praise, think on +these things” (Phil. iv. 8).</p> + +<p>Any man who faithfully, patiently, and persistently +accepts this programme of Paul’s will find his +evil thoughts vanishing away.</p> + +<p>And this is the Holy Spirit’s method: He has +a pleasant and safe substitute for gossip and fault-finding +and slander.</p> + +<p>Here it is: “Be filled with the Spirit: speaking +to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, +singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; +giving thanks always for all things unto God and the +Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” +(Eph. v. 18-20). This is certainly a fruit of being +filled with the Spirit.</p> + +<p>Many years ago the Lord gave me a blessed revival +in a little village in which nearly every soul in +the place, as well as farmers from the surrounding +country, were converted. One result was that they +now had no time for gossip and doubtful talk about +their neighbours. They were all talking about religion +and rejoicing in the things of the Lord. If they met +each other on the street, or in some shop or store, +they praised the Lord, and encouraged each other to +press on in the heavenly way. If they met a sinner, +they tenderly besought him to be reconciled to God, +to give up his sins, “flee from the wrath to +come,” and start at once for Heaven. If they +met in each other’s houses, they gathered around +the organ or the piano and sang hymns and songs, and +did not part till they had united in prayer.</p> + +<p>There was no criticising of their neighbours, no grumbling +and complaining about the weather, no fault-finding +with their lot in life, or their daily surroundings +and circumstances. Their conversation was joyous, +cheerful, and helpful to one another. Nor was it forced +and out of place, but rather it was the natural, spontaneous +outflow of loving, humble, glad hearts filled with +the Spirit, in union with Jesus, and in love and sympathy +with their fellow-men.</p> + +<p>And this is, I think, our Heavenly Father’s +ideal of social and spiritual intercourse for His +children on earth. He would not have us separate ourselves +from each other and shut ourselves up in convents +and monasteries in austere asceticism on the one hand, +nor would He have us light and foolish, or fault-finding +and censorious on the other hand, but sociable, cheerful, +and full of tender, considerate love.</p> + +<p>On the day of Pentecost, when they were all filled +with the Holy Ghost and a multitude were converted, +we read that “they, continuing daily with one +accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house +to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness +of heart, praising God, and having favour with all +the people” (Acts ii. 46, 47). This is a sample +of the brotherly love and unity which our Heavenly +Father would have throughout the whole earth; but +how the breath of gossip and evil-speaking would have +marred this heavenly fellowship and separated these +“chief friends”!</p> + +<p> “Lord! subdue our selfish will;<br> + Each to each our tempers suit<br> + By Thy modulating skill,<br> + Heart to heart, as lute to lute.”</p> + +<p>Let no one suppose, however, that the Holy Spirit +accomplishes this heavenly work by some overwhelming +baptism which does away with the need of our co-operation. +He does not override us, but works with us; and we +must intelligently and determinedly work with Him +in this matter.</p> + +<p>People often fall into idle and hurtful gossip and +evil-speaking, not so much from ill-will, as from +old habit, as a wagon falls into a rut. Or they drift +into it with the current of conversation about them. +Or they are beguiled into it by a desire to say something, +and be pleasant and entertaining.</p> + +<p>But when the Holy Spirit comes, He lifts us out of +the old ruts, and we must follow Him with care lest +we fall into them again, possibly never more to escape. +He gives us life and power to stem the adverse currents +about us, but we must exercise ourselves not to be +swept downward by them. He does not destroy the desire +to please, but He subordinates it to the desire to +help and bless, and we must stir ourselves up to do +this.</p> + +<p>When Miss Havergal was asked to sing and play before +a worldly company, she sang a sweet song about Jesus, +and, without displeasing anybody, greatly blessed +the company.</p> + +<p>At a breakfast party John Fletcher told his experience +so sweetly and naturally that all hearts were stirred, +the Holy Ghost fell upon the company, and they ended +with a glorious prayer meeting.</p> + +<p>William Bramwell used at meals to steadily and persistently +turn the conversation into spiritual channels to the +blessing of all who were present, so that they had +two meals—­one for the body and one for +the soul.</p> + +<p>To do this wisely and helpfully requires thought and +prayer and a fixed purpose, and a tender, loving heart +filled with the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>I know a mother who seeks to have a brief season of +prayer and a text of Scripture just before going to +dinner to prepare her heart to guide the conversation +along spiritual highways.</p> + +<p>Are you careful and have you victory in this matter, +my comrade? If not, seek it just now in simple, trustful +prayer, and the Lord who loves you will surely answer, +and will be your helper from this time forth. He surely +will. Believe just now, and henceforth “let +your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ.”</p> + +<p> “I ask Thee, ever blessed Lord,<br> + That I may never speak a word,<br> + Of envy born, or passion stirred.</p> + +<p> “First, true to Thee in heart and +mind,<br> + Then always to my neighbour kind,<br> + By Thy good hand to good inclined.</p> + +<p> “Oh, save from words that bear a +sting,<br> + That pain to any brother bring:<br> + Inbreathe Thy calm in everything.</p> + +<p> “Let love within my heart prevail,<br> + To rule my words when thoughts assail,<br> + That, hid in Thee, I may not fail.</p> + +<p> “I know, my Lord, Thy power within<br> + Can save from all the power of sin;<br> + In Thee let every word begin.</p> + +<p> “Should I be silent? Keep me still,<br> + Glad waiting on my Master’s will:<br> + Thy message through my lips fulfil.</p> + +<p> “Give me Thy words when I should +speak,<br> + For words of Thine are never weak,<br> + But break the proud, but raise the meek.</p> + +<p> “Into Thy lips all grace is poured,<br> + Speak Thou through me, Eternal Word,<br> + Of thought, of heart, of lips the Lord.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter12"></a> +<h1>XII.</h1> + +<h2>The Sin Against the Holy Ghost</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>God is love, and the Holy Spirit is ceaselessly striving +to make this love known in our hearts, work out God’s +purposes of love in our lives, and transform and transfigure +our character by love. And so we are solemnly warned +against resisting the Spirit, and almost tearfully +and always tenderly exhorted to “quench not the +Spirit,” and to “grieve not the Holy Spirit +of God, whereby,” says the Apostle, “ye +are sealed unto the day of redemption.”</p> + +<p>There is one great sin against which Jesus warned +the Jews, as a sin never to be forgiven in this world +nor in that which is to come. That was blasphemy against +the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>That there is such a sin, Jesus teaches in Matthew +xii. 31, 32, Mark iii. 28-30, and Luke xii. 10. And +it may be that this is the sin referred to in Hebrews +vi. 4-6; x. 29.</p> + +<p>Since many of God’s dear children have fallen +into dreadful distress through fear that they had +committed this sin, it may be helpful for us to study +carefully as to what constitutes it.</p> + +<p>Jesus was casting out devils, and Mark tells us that +“the scribes which came down from Jerusalem +said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the +devils casteth He out devils.” To this Jesus +replied with gracious kindness and searching logic: +“How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom +be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. +And if a house be divided against itself, it cannot +stand. And if Satan rise up against himself and be +divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can +enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his +goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and +then he will spoil his house.”</p> + +<p>In this quiet reply we see that Jesus does not rail +against them, nor flatly deny their base assertion +that He does His miracles by the power of the Devil, +but shows how logically false must be their statement. +And then, with grave authority, and, I think, with +solemn tenderness in His voice and in His eyes, He +adds, “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall +be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies +wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that +shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never +forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation”; +or, as the Revised Version puts it, “is guilty +of an eternal sin”; and then Mark adds, “because +they said, He hath an unclean spirit” (Mark +iii. 22-30).</p> + +<p>Jesus came into the world to reveal God’s truth +and love to men, and to save them, and men are saved +by believing in Him. But how could the men of His +day, who saw Him working at the carpenter’s +bench, and living the life of an ordinary man of humble +toil and daily temptation and trial, believe His stupendous +claim to be the only-begotten Son of God, the Saviour +of the world, and the final Judge of all men? Any +wilful and proud impostor could make such a claim. +But men <i>could</i> not and <i>ought</i> not to believe +such an assertion unless the claim were supported by +ungainsayable evidence. This evidence Jesus began +to give, not only in the holy life which He lived +and the pure Gospel He preached, but in the miracles +He wrought, the blind eyes He opened, the sick He healed, +the hungry thousands He fed, the seas He stilled, the +dead He raised to life again, and the devils He cast +out of bound and harassed souls.</p> + +<p>The Scribes and Pharisees witnessed these miracles, +and were compelled to admit these signs and wonders. +Nicodemus, one of their number, said to Jesus, “Rabbi, +we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for +no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except +God be with him” (John iii. 2). Would they now +admit His claim to be the Son of God, their promised +and long-looked-for Messiah? They were thoughtful +men and very religious, but not spiritual. The Gospel +He preached was Spirit and life; it appealed to their +conscience and revealed their sin, and to acknowledge +Him was to admit that they themselves were wrong. It +meant submission to His authority, the surrender of +their wills, and a change of front in their whole +inner and outer life. This meant moral and spiritual +revolution in each man’s heart and life, and +to this they would not submit. And so to avoid such +plain inconsistency, they must discredit His miracles; +and since they could not deny them, they declared +that He wrought them by the power of the Devil.</p> + +<p>Jesus worked these signs and wonders by the power +of the Holy Spirit, that he might win their confidence, +and that they might reasonably believe and be saved. +But they refused to believe, and in their malignant +obstinacy heaped scorn upon Him, accusing Him of being +in league with the Devil; and how could they be saved? +This was the sin against the Holy Spirit against which +Jesus warned them. It was not so much one act of sin, +as a deep-seated, stubborn rebellion against God that +led them to choose darkness rather than light, and +so to blaspheme against the Spirit of truth and light. +It was sin full and ripe and ready for the harvest.</p> + +<p>Some one has said that “this sin cannot be forgiven, +not because God is unwilling to forgive, but because +one who thus sins against the Holy Spirit has put +himself where no power can soften his heart or change +his nature. A man may misuse his eyes and yet see; +but whosoever puts them out can never see again. One +may misdirect his compass, and turn it aside from +the North Pole by a magnet or piece of iron, and it +may recover and point right again; but whosoever destroys +the compass itself has lost his guide at sea.”</p> + +<p>Many of God’s dear children, honest souls, have +been persuaded that they have committed this awful +sin. Indeed, I once thought that I myself had done +so, and for twenty-eight days I felt that, like Jonah, +I was “in the belly of hell.” But God, +in love and tender mercy, drew me out of the horrible +pit of doubt and fear, and showed me that this is +a sin committed only by those who, in spite of all +evidence, harden their hearts in unbelief, and to +shield themselves in their sins deny and blaspheme +the Lord.</p> + +<p>Dr. Daniel Steele tells of a Jew who was asked, “Is +it that you <i>cannot</i>, or that you <i>will not</i> +believe?” The Jew passionately replied, “We +<i>will</i> not, we <i>will</i> not believe.”</p> + +<p>This was wilful refusal and rejection of light, and +in that direction lies hardness of heart beyond recovery, +fullness of sin, and final impenitence, which are +unpardonable.</p> + +<p>Doubtless many through resistance to the Holy Spirit +come to this awful state of heart; but those troubled, +anxious souls who think they have committed this sin +are not usually among the number.</p> + +<p>An Army Officer in Canada was in the midst of a glorious +revival, when one night a gentleman arose and with +deep emotion urged the young people present to yield +themselves to God, accept Jesus as their Saviour, +and receive the Holy Spirit. He told them that he +had once been a Christian, but that he had not walked +in the light, and, consequently, had sinned against +the Holy Spirit, and could never more be pardoned. +Then, with all earnest tenderness, he exhorted them +to be warned by his sad state, and not to harden their +hearts against the gracious influences, and entreated +them to yield to the Saviour. Suddenly the scales +of doubt dropped from his eyes, and he saw that he +had not in his inmost heart rejected Jesus; that he +had not committed the unpardonable sin; that</p> + +<p> “The love of God is broader<br> + Than the measure of man’s +mind:<br> + And the heart of the Eternal<br> + Is most wonderfully kind.”</p> + +<p>And in an instant his heart was filled with light +and love and peace, and sweet assurance that Christ +Jesus was his Saviour, even his.</p> + +<p>In one meeting, I have known three people who thought +they had committed this sin, and were bowed with grief +and fear, to come to the penitent-form and find deliverance.</p> + +<p>The poet Cowper was plunged into unutterable gloom +by the conviction that he had committed this awful +sin; but God tenderly brought him into the light and +sweet comforts of the Holy Spirit again, and doubtless +it was in the sense of such lovingkindness that he +wrote:</p> + +<p> “There is a fountain filled with +blood,<br> + Drawn from Emanuel’s veins;<br> + And sinners plunged beneath that flood<br> + Lose all their guilty stains.”</p> + +<p>John Bunyan was also afflicted with horrible fears +that he had committed the unpardonable sin, and in +his little book entitled, “Grace Abounding to +the Chief of Sinners” (a book which I would +earnestly recommend to all soul-winners), he tells +how he was delivered from his doubts and fears and +was filled once more with the joy of the Lord. There +are portions of his “Pilgrim’s Progress” +which are to be interpreted in the light of this grievous +experience.</p> + +<p>Those who think they have committed this sin may generally +be assured that they have not.</p> + +<p>1. Their hearts are usually very tender, while this +sin must harden the heart past all feeling.</p> + +<p>2. They are full of sorrow and shame for having neglected +God’s grace and trifled with the Saviour’s +dying words, but such sorrow could not exist in a +heart so fully given over to sin that pardon was impossible.</p> + +<p>3. God says, “Whosoever will may come”; +and if they find it in their hearts to come, they +will not be cast out, but freely pardoned and received +with loving kindness through the merits of Jesus’ +blood. God’s promise will not fail, His faithfulness +is established in the heavens. Bless His holy name! +Those who have committed this sin are full of evil, +and do not care to come, and will not, and, therefore, +are never pardoned. Their sin is eternal.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter13"></a> +<h1>XIII.</h1> + +<h2>Offences Against the Holy Ghost</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>One day, in a fit of boyish temper, I spoke hot words +of anger, somewhat unjustly, against another person, +and this deeply grieved my mother. She said but little, +and though her sweet face has mouldered many years +beneath the Southern daisies, her look of grief I +can still see across the years of a third of a century. +And that is the one sad memory of my childhood. A +stranger might have been amused or incensed at my words, +but mother was grieved—­grieved to her heart +by my lack of generous, self-forgetful, thoughtful +love.</p> + +<p>We can anger a stranger or an enemy, but it is only +a friend we grieve. The Holy Spirit is such a Friend, +more tender and faithful than a mother; and shall +we carelessly offend Him, and estrange ourselves from +Him in spite of His love?</p> + +<p>There is a sense in which every sin is against the +Holy Ghost. Of course, not every such sin is unpardonable, +but the tendency of all sin is in that direction, +and we are only safe as we avoid the very beginnings +of sin. Only as we “walk in the Spirit” +are we “free from the law of sin and death” +(Romans viii. 2). Therefore, it is infinitely important +that we beware of offences against the Spirit, “lest +any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of +sin” (Hebrews iii. 13).</p> + +<p>Grieving the Holy Spirit is a very common and a very +sad offence of professing Christians, and it is to +this that must be attributed much of the weakness +and ignorance and joylessness of so many followers +of Christ.</p> + +<p>And He is grieved, as was my mother, by the unloving +speech and spirit of God’s children.</p> + +<p>In his letters to the Ephesians, Paul says, “Let +no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, +but that which is good to the use of edifying, that +it may minister grace unto the hearers.” And +then he adds: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit +of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. +Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, +and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all +malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, +forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s +sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of +God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ +also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us” +(Eph. iv. 29-v. 2).</p> + +<p>What does Paul teach us here? That it is not by some +huge wickedness, some Judas-like betrayal, some tempting +and lying to the Holy Ghost, as did Ananias and Sapphira +(Acts v. 1-9), that we grieve Him, but by that which +most people count little and unimportant; by talk +that corrupts instead of blessing and building up +those that hear, by gossip, by bitterness, and uncharitable +criticisms and fault-findings. This was the sin of +the elder son when the prodigal returned, and it was +by this he pierced with grief the kind old father’s +heart.</p> + +<p>By getting in a rage, by loud, angry talking and evil-speaking +and petty malice, by unkindness and hard-heartedness +and an unforgiving spirit, we grieve Him. In a word, +by not walking through the world as in our Father’s +house, and among our neighbours and friends as among +His dear children; by not loving tenderly and making +kindly sacrifices for one another, He is grieved. +And this is not a matter of little importance. It may +have sadly momentous consequences.</p> + +<p>It is a bitter, cruel, and often an irreparable thing +to trifle with a valuable earthly friendship. How +much more when the friendship is heavenly? when the +Friend is our Lord and Saviour, our Creator and Redeemer, +our Governor and Judge, our Teacher, Guide, and God? +When we trifle with a friend’s wishes—­especially +when such wishes are all in perfect harmony with and +for our highest possible good—­we may not +estrange the friend from us, but we estrange ourselves +from our friend. Our hearts grow cold toward him, +though his heart may be breaking with longing toward +us.</p> + +<p>The more Saul ill-treated David, the more he hated +David.</p> + +<p>Such estrangement may lead, little by little, to yet +greater sin, to strange hardness of heart, to doubts +and unbelief, and backslidings and denial of the Lord.</p> + +<p>The cure for all this is a clean heart full of sweet +and gentle, self-forgetful, generous love. Then we +shall be “followers of God as dear children,” +then we shall “walk in love as Christ loved +us, and gave Himself for us.”</p> + +<p>But there is another offence, that of quenching the +Spirit, which accounts for the comparative darkness +and deadness of many of God’s children.</p> + +<p>In I Thess. v. 16-19 the Apostle says: “Rejoice +evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give +thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus +concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.”</p> + +<p>When will the Lord’s dear children learn that +the religion of Jesus is a lowly thing, and that it +is the little foxes that spoil the vines? Does not +the Apostle here teach that it is not by some desperate, +dastardly deed that we quench the Spirit, but simply +by neglecting to rejoice and pray, and give thanks +at all times and for all things?</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to blot the sun out of the heavens +to keep the sunlight out of your house—­just +close the blinds and draw the curtains; nor do you +pour barrels of water on the flames to quench the +fire—­just shut off the draught; nor do you +dynamite the city reservoir and destroy all the mains +and pipes to cut off your supply of sparkling water, +but just refrain from turning on the main.</p> + +<p>So you do not need to do some great evil, some deadly +sin, to quench the Spirit. Just cease to rejoice, +through fear of man and of being peculiar; be prim +and proper as a white and polished gravestone; let +gushing joy be curbed; neglect to pray when you feel +a gentle pull in your heart to get alone with the Lord; +omit giving hearty thanks for all God’s tender +mercies, faithful discipline and loving chastenings, +and soon you will find the Spirit quenched. He will +no longer spring up joyously like a well of living +water within you.</p> + +<p>But give the Spirit a vent, an opening, a chance, +and He will rise within you and flood your soul with +light and love and joy.</p> + +<p>Some years ago a sanctified woman of clear experience +went alone to keep her daily hour with God; but, to +her surprise, it seemed that she could not find Him, +either in prayer or in His word. She searched her +heart for evidence of sin, but the Spirit showed her +nothing contrary to God in her mind, heart, or will. +She searched her memory for any breach of covenant, +any broken vows, any neglect, any omission, but could +find none.</p> + +<p>Then she asked the Lord to show her if there were +any duty unfulfilled, any command unnoticed, which +she might perform, and quick as thought came the often-read +words, “Rejoice evermore.” “Have +you done that this morning?”</p> + +<p>She had not. It had been a busy morning, and a well-spent +one, but so far there had been no definite rejoicing +in her heart, though the manifold riches and ground +for joy of all Christians were hers.</p> + +<p>At once she began to count her blessings and thank +the Lord for each one, and rejoice in Him for all +the way He had led her, and the gifts He had bestowed, +and in a very few minutes the Lord stood revealed +to her spiritual consciousness.</p> + +<p>She had not committed sin, nor resisted the Spirit, +but a failure to rejoice in Him who had daily loaded +her with benefits (Psalm lxviii. 19) had in a measure +quenched the Spirit. She had not turned the main, +and so her soul was not flooded with living waters. +She had not remembered the command: “Thou shalt +rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest +thine hand unto.” But that morning she learned +a lifelong lesson, and she has ever since safeguarded +her soul by obeying the many commands to “Rejoice +in the Lord.”</p> + +<p>Grieving and quenching the Spirit will not only leave +barren and desolate an individual soul, but it will +do so for a Corps, a church, a community, a whole +nation or continent. We see this illustrated on a +large scale by the long and weary Dark Ages, when +the light of the Gospel was almost extinguished, and +only here and there was the darkness broken by the +torch of truth held aloft by some humble, suffering +soul that had wept and prayed, and through painful +struggles had found the light.</p> + +<p>We see it also in those Corps, churches, communities, +and countries where revivals are unknown, or are a +thing of the past, where souls are not born into the +Kingdom, and where there is no joyous shout of victory +among the people of God.</p> + +<p>Grieving and quenching the Spirit may be done unintentionally +by lack of thought and prayer and hearty devotion +to the Lord Jesus; but they prepare the way and lead +to intentional and positive resistance to the Spirit.</p> + +<p>To resist the Spirit is to fight against Him.</p> + +<p>The sinner who, listening to the Gospel invitation, +and convicted of sin, refuses to submit to God in +true repentance and faith in Jesus, is resisting the +Holy Spirit. We have bold and striking historical +illustrations of the danger of resisting the Holy +Spirit in the disasters which befell Pharaoh, and the +terrible calamities which came upon Jerusalem, and +have for twenty centuries followed the Jews.</p> + +<p>The ten plagues that came upon Pharaoh and his people +were ten opportunities and open doors into God’s +favour and fellowship, which they themselves shut +by their stubborn resistance, only to be overtaken +by dreadful catastrophe.</p> + +<p>To the Jews, Stephen said: “Ye do always resist +the Holy Ghost” (Acts vii. 51); and the siege +and fall of Jerusalem, and the butchery and banishment +and enslavement of its inhabitants, and all the woes +that came upon the Jews, followed their rejection of +Jesus and the hardness of heart and spiritual blindness +which swiftly overtook them when they resisted all +the loving efforts and entreaties of His disciples +baptised with the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>And what on a large scale befalls nations and people, +on a small scale also befalls individuals. Those that +receive and obey the Lord are enlightened and blessed +and saved; those that resist and reject Him are sadly +left to themselves and surely swallowed up in destruction.</p> + +<p>Likewise the professing Christian who hears of heart-holiness +and cleansing from all sin as a blessing he may now +have by faith, and, convicted of his need of the blessing +and of God’s desire and willingness to bestow +it upon him now, refuses to seek it in whole-hearted +affectionate consecration and faith, is resisting +the Holy Spirit. And such resistance imperils the soul +beyond all possible computation.</p> + +<p>We see an example of this in the Israelites who were +brought out of Egypt with signs and wonders, and led +through the Red Sea and the wilderness to the borders +of Canaan, but, forgetting, refused to go over into +the land. In this they resisted the Holy Spirit in +His leadings as surely as did Pharaoh, and with quite +as disastrous results to themselves, perishing in their +evil way.</p> + +<p>For their sin was as much greater than his as their +light exceeded his.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of years later, Isaiah, writing of this time, +says: “In all their affliction He was afflicted, +and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love +and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, +and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, +and vexed His Holy Spirit; therefore He was turned +to be their enemy, and He fought against them” +(Isaiah lxiii. 9, 10).</p> + +<p>We see from this that Christians must beware and watch +and pray and walk softly with the Lord in glad obedience +and childlike faith, if they would escape the darkness +and dryness that result from grieving and quenching +the Spirit, and the dangers that surely come from +resisting Him.</p> + +<p> “Arm me with jealous care,<br> + As in Thy sight to live;<br> + And, Oh, Thy servant, Lord, prepare,<br> + A strict account to give.</p> + +<p> “Help me to watch and pray,<br> + And on Thyself rely,<br> + Assured if I my trust betray,<br> + I shall for ever die.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter14"></a> +<h1>XIV.</h1> + +<h2>The Holy Spirit and Sound Doctrine</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Is Jesus Christ divine? Is the Bible an inspired Book? +Is man a fallen creature who can be saved only through +the suffering and sacrifice of the Creator? Will there +be a resurrection of the dead, and a day in which +God will judge all the world by the Man Christ Jesus? +Is Satan a personal being, and is there a Hell in +which the wicked will be for ever punished?</p> + +<p>These are great doctrines which have been held and +taught by His followers since the days of Jesus and +His Apostles, and yet they are ever being attacked +and denied.</p> + +<p>Are they true? Or are they only fancies and falsehoods, +or figures of speech and distortions of truth? How +can we find truth and know it?</p> + +<p>Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is +come, He will guide you into all truth” (John +xvi. 13).</p> + +<p>What truth? Not the truth of the multiplication table, +or of physical science, or art, or secular history, +but spiritual truth—­the truth about God +and His will and character, and our relations to Him +in Christ—­that truth which is necessary +to salvation and holiness—­into all this +truth the Holy Spirit will guide us. “He shall +teach you all things,” said Jesus (John xiv. +26).</p> + +<p>How, then, shall we escape error and be “sound +in doctrine”? Only by the help of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>How do we know Jesus Christ is divine? Because the +Bible tells us so? Infinitely precious and important +is this revelation in the Bible; but not by this do +we know it. Because the Church teaches it in her creed, +and we have heard it from the catechism? Nothing taught +in any creed or catechism is of more vital importance; +but neither by this do we know it.</p> + +<p>How then? Listen to Paul: “No man can say that +Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (I +Cor. xii. 3). “No man,” says Paul. Then +learning it from the Bible or catechism is not to know +it except as the parrot might know it; but every man +is to be taught this by the Holy Spirit, if he is +to really know it.</p> + +<p>Then it is not a revelation made once for all, and +only to the men who walked and talked with Jesus, +but it is a spiritual revelation made anew to each +believing heart that in penitence seeks Him and so +meets the conditions of such a revelation.</p> + +<p>Then the poor, degraded, ignorant outcast at The Army +penitent-form in the slums of London or Chicago, +who never heard of a creed, and the ebony African +and dusky Indian, who never saw the inside of a Bible, +may have Christ revealed in him, and know by the revelation +of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is Lord.</p> + +<p>“It pleased God... to reveal His Son in me,” +wrote Paul (Gal. i. 15, 16); and again, “Christ +liveth in me” (Gal. ii. 20); and again, “My +little children, of whom I travail in birth again +until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. iv. 19); +as though Christ is to be spiritually formed in the +heart of each believer by the operation of the Holy +Spirit, as He was physically formed in the womb of +Mary by the same Spirit (Luke i. 35); and again, “The +mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, +but now is made manifest to His saints,... which is +Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. i. 26, +27); “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by +faith” (Eph. iii. 17); “Examine yourselves, +whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. +Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ +is in you, except ye be reprobates” (2 Cor. +xiii. 5)?</p> + +<p>“At that day,” said Jesus, when making +His great promise of the Comforter to His disciples, +“At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, +and ye in Me, and I in you” (John xiv. 20); and +again, in His great prayer, He said: “I have +declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: +that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be +in them, and I in them.”</p> + +<p>It is this ever-recurring revelation to penitent, +believing hearts, by the agency of the ever-present +Holy Spirit, that makes faith in Jesus Christ living +and invincible. “I know He is Lord, for He saves +my soul from sin, and He saves me now,” is an +argument that rationalism and unbelief cannot answer +nor overthrow, and so long as there are men in the +world who can say this, faith in the divinity of Jesus +Christ is secure; and this experience and witness +come by the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p> “I worship Thee, O Holy Ghost,<br> + I love to worship Thee;<br> + My risen Lord for aye were lost<br> + But for Thy company.”</p> + +<p>And so it is by the guidance and teaching of the Holy +Spirit that all saving truth becomes vital to us.</p> + +<p>It is He that makes the Bible a living Book; it is +He that convinces the world of judgment (John xvi. +8-11); it is He that makes men certain that there +is a Heaven of surpassing and enduring glory and joy, +and a Hell of endless sorrow and woe for those who +sin away their day of grace and die in impenitence.</p> + +<p>Who have been the mightiest and most faithful preachers +of the gloom and terror and pain of a perpetual Hell? +those who have been the mightiest and most effective +preachers of God’s compassionate love.</p> + +<p>In all periods of great revival, when men seemed to +live on the borderland, and in the vision of eternity, +Hell has been preached. The leaders in these revivals +have been men of prayer and faith and consuming love, +but they have been men who knew “the terrors +of the Lord,” and, therefore, they preached +the judgments of God, and they proved that the law +with its penalties is a schoolmaster to bring men +to Christ (Gal. iii. 24). Fox, the Quaker; Bunyan, +the Baptist; Baxter, the Puritan; Wesley and Fletcher, +and Whitefield and Caughey, the Methodists; Finney, +the Presbyterian; Edwards and Moody, the Congregationalists; +and General Booth, the Salvationist, have preached +it, not savagely, but tenderly and faithfully, as +a mother might warn her child against some great danger +that would surely follow careless and selfish wrong-doing.</p> + +<p>What men have loved and laboured and sacrificed as +these men? Their hearts have been a flaming furnace +of love and devotion to God, and an over-flowing fountain +of love and compassion for men; but just in proportion +as they have discovered God’s love and pity +for the sinner, so have they discovered His wrath against +sin and all obstinate wrong-doing; and as they have +caught glimpses of Heaven and declared its joys and +everlasting glories to men, so they have seen Hell, +with its endless punishment, and with trembling voice +and overflowing eyes have they warned men to “flee +from the wrath to come.”</p> + +<p>Were these men, throbbing with spiritual life and +consumed with devotion to the Kingdom of God and the +everlasting well-being of their fellowmen, led to +this belief by the Spirit of Truth, or were they misled? +Is it the prophet, weeping and praying and preaching +and fighting for God and men, to whom the Spirit has +always first spoken and revealed the things of God? +Or is it the philosopher, or dry-as-dust theologian, +or the popular preacher of smooth things, sitting +in his study and among his books, spinning out of +his own mind his conceits concerning God’s plan +and purpose in the universe?</p> + +<p>Does Seneca or the Psalmist, Plato or Paul, Rousseau +or Wesley, the idolised, high-salaried, soft-raimented +preacher of a wide gate and broad way to life and +Heaven, or the veteran soul-winner, General Booth, +more clearly make known the mind of God in matters +that are spiritual?</p> + +<p>“The things of the Spirit... are spiritually +discerned” (I Cor. ii. 14), says Paul. It is +not by searching and philosophising that these things +are found out, but by revelation. “Flesh and +blood hath not revealed it unto thee,” said Jesus +to Peter, “but My Father which is in Heaven” +(Matthew xvi. 17). The great teacher of truth is the +Spirit of Truth, and the only safe expounders and +guardians of sound doctrine are men filled with the +Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>Study and research have their place, and an important +place; but in spiritual things they will be no avail +unless prosecuted by spiritual men. As well might +men blind from birth attempt to study the starry heavens, +and men born deaf undertake to expound and criticise +the harmonies of Bach and Beethoven. Men must see +and hear to speak and write intelligently on such subjects. +And so men must be spiritually enlightened to understand +spiritual truth.</p> + +<p>The greatest danger to any religious organisation +is that a body of men should arise in its ranks, and +hold its positions of trust, who have learned its +great fundamental doctrines by rote out of the catechism, +but have no experimental knowledge of their truth +inwrought by the mighty anointing of the Holy Ghost, +and who are destitute of “an unction from the +Holy One,” by which, says John, “ye know +all things” (1 John ii. 20, 27).</p> + +<p>Why do men deny the divinity of Jesus Christ? Because +they have never placed themselves in that relation +to the Spirit, and met those unchanging conditions +that would enable Him to reveal Jesus to them as Saviour +and Lord.</p> + +<p>Why do men dispute the inspiration of the Scriptures? +Because the Holy Ghost, who inspired “holy men +of God” to write the Book (2 Peter i. 21), hides +its spiritual sense from unspiritual and unholy men.</p> + +<p>Why do men doubt a Day of Judgment, and a state of +everlasting doom? Because they have never been bowed +and broken and crushed beneath the weight of their +sin, and by a sense of guilt and separation from a +holy God that can only be removed by faith in His +dying Son.</p> + +<p>A sportsman lost his way in a pitiless storm on a +black and starless night. Suddenly his horse drew +back and refused to take another step. He urged it +forward, but it only threw itself back upon its haunches. +Just then a vivid flash of lightning revealed a great +precipice upon the brink of which he stood. It was +but an instant, and then the pitchy blackness hid +it again from view. But he turned his horse and anxiously +rode away from the terrible danger.</p> + +<p>A distinguished professor of religion said to me some +time ago, “I dislike, I abhor, the doctrine +of Hell”; and then after a while added, “But +three times in my life I have seen that there was +eternal separation from God and an everlasting Hell +for me, if I walked not in the way God was calling +me to go.”</p> + +<p>Into the blackness of the sinner’s night the +Holy Spirit, who is patiently and compassionately +seeking the salvation of all men, flashes a light +that gives him a glimpse of eternal things which, +heeded, would lead to the sweet peace and security +of eternal day. For when the Holy Spirit is heeded +and honoured, the night passes, the shadows flee away, +the day dawns, “the Sun of Righteousness arises +with healing in His wings,” and, saved and sanctified, +men walk in His light in safety and joy. Doctrines +which before were repellent to the carnal mind, and +but foolishness, or a stumbling-block to the heart +of unbelief, now become precious and satisfying to +the soul; and truths which before were hid in impenetrable +darkness, or seen only as through dense gloom and +fog, are now seen clearly as in the light of broad +day.</p> + +<p> “Hold thou the faith that Christ +is Lord,<br> + God over all, who died and rose;<br> + And everlasting life bestows<br> + On all who hear the living word.<br> + For thee His life-blood He out-poured,<br> + His Spirit sets thy spirit free;<br> + Hold thou the faith—­He +dwells in thee,<br> + And thou in Him, and Christ is Lord!”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter15"></a> +<h1>XV.</h1> + +<h2>Praying in the Spirit</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>An important work of the Holy Spirit is to teach us +how to pray, instruct us what to pray for, and inspire +us to pray earnestly, without ceasing, and in faith, +for the things we desire and the things that are dear +to the heart of the Lord.</p> + +<p>In a familiar verse, the poet Montgomery says:</p> + +<p> “Prayer is the burden of a sigh,<br> + The falling of a tear,<br> + The upward glancing of the eye,<br> + When none but God is near.”</p> + +<p>And no doubt he is right. Prayer is exceedingly simple. +The faintest cry for help, a whisper for mercy, is +prayer. But when the Holy Spirit comes and fills the +soul with His blessed presence, prayer becomes more +than a cry; it ceases to be a feeble request, and +often becomes a strife (Romans xv. 30; Col. iv. 12) +for greater things, a conflict, an invincible argument, +a wrestling with God, and through it men enter into +the Divine councils and rise into a blessed and responsible +fellowship in some important sense with the Father +and the Son in the moral government of the world.</p> + +<p>It was in this spirit and fellowship that Abraham +prayed for Sodom (Genesis xviii. 23-32); that Moses +interceded for Israel, and stood between them and +God’s hot displeasure (Exodus xxxii. 7-14); +and that Elijah prevailed to shut up the heavens for +three years and six months, and then again prevailed +in his prayer for rain.</p> + +<p>God would have us come to Him not only as a foolish +and ignorant child comes, but as an ambassador to +his home government; as a full-grown son who has become +of age and entered into partnership with his father; +as a bride who is one in all interests and affections +with the bridegroom.</p> + +<p>He would have us “come boldly to the throne +of grace” with a well-reasoned and Scriptural +understanding of what we desire, and with a purpose +to “ask,” “seek,” and “knock” +till we get the thing we wish, being assured that +it is according to His will; and this boldness is +not inconsistent with the profoundest humility and +a sense of utter dependence; indeed, it is always +accompanied by self-distrust and humble reliance upon +the merits of Jesus, else it is but presumption and +unsanctified conceit. This union of assurance and +humility, of boldness and dependence, can be secured +only by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and only +so can one be prepared and fitted for such prayer.</p> + +<p>Three great obstacles hinder mighty prayer:</p> + +<p>1. selfishness; 2, unbelief; 3, the darkness of ignorance +and foolishness. The baptism with the Spirit sweeps +away these obstacles and brings in the three great +essentials to prayer—­1, faith; 2, love, +Divine love; 3, the light of heavenly knowledge and +wisdom.</p> + +<p>1. Selfishness must be cast out by the incoming of +love. The ambassador must not be seeking personal +ends, but the interests of his government and the +people he represents; the son must not be seeking +private gain, but the common prosperity of the partnership +in which he will fully and lawfully share; the bride +must not forget him to whom she belongs, and seek separate +ends, but in all ways identify herself with her husband +and his interests.</p> + +<p>So the child of God must come in prayer, unselfishly.</p> + +<p>It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our co-operation +and glad consent, to search and destroy selfishness +out of our hearts, and fill them with pure love to +God and man. And when this is done we shall not then +be asking for things amiss to consume them upon our +lusts, to gratify our appetites, or pride, or ambition, +or ease, or vain-glory. We shall seek only the glory +of our Lord and the common good of our fellow-men, +in which, as co-workers and partners, we shall have +a common share. If we ask for success, it is not that +we may be exalted, but that God may be glorified; +that Jesus may secure the purchase of His blood; that +men may be saved, and the Kingdom of Heaven be established +upon earth.</p> + +<p>If we ask for daily bread, it is not that we may be +full, but that we may be fitted for daily duty. If +we ask for health, it is not alone that we may be +free from pain and filled with physical comfort, but +that we may be spent “in publishing the sinner’s +Friend,” in fulfilling the work for which God +has placed us here.</p> + +<p>2. Unbelief must be destroyed. Doubt paralyzes prayer. +Unbelief quenches the spirit of intercession. Only +as the eye of faith sees our Father God upon the Throne +guaranteeing to us rights and privileges by the blood +of His Son, and inviting us to come without fear, +and make our wants known, does prayer rise from the +commonplace to the sublime; does it cease to be a feeble, +timid cry, and become a mighty spiritual force, moving +God Himself in the interests which it seeks.</p> + +<p>Men, wise with the wisdom of this world, but poor +and naked and blind and foolish in matters of faith, +ask: “Will God change His plans at the request +of man?” And we answer, “Yes,” since +many of God’s plans are made contingent upon +the prayers of His people, and He has ordered that +prayer offered in faith, according to His will, revealed +in His word, shall be one of the controlling factors +in His government of men.</p> + +<p>Is it God’s will that the tides of the Atlantic +and Pacific should sweep across the Isthmus of Panama? +That men should run under the Alps? That thoughts +and words should be winged across the ocean without +any visible or tangible medium? Yes; it is His will, +if men will it, and work to these ends in harmony with +His great physical laws. So in the spiritual world +there are wonders wrought by prayer, and God wills +the will of His people when they come to Him in faith +and love.</p> + +<p>What else is meant by such promises and assurances +as these: “Therefore I say unto you, What things +soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive +them, and ye shall have them” (Mark xi. 24); +“The supplication of a righteous man availeth +much in its working. Elijah was a man of like passions +with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not +rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years +and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens +gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit” +(James v. 16-18. American Revision).</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit dwelling within the heart helps us +to understand the things we may pray for, and the +heart that is full of love and loyalty to God only +wants what is lawful. This is mystery to people who +are under the dominion of selfishness and the darkness +of unbelief, but it is a soul-thrilling fact to those +who are filled with the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>“What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” +asked Jesus of the blind man (Luke xviii. 41).</p> + +<p>He had respect to the will of the blind man, and granted +his request, seeing he had faith. And He still has +respect to the vigorous, sanctified will of His people—­the +will that has been subdued by consecration and faith +into loving union with His will.</p> + +<p>The Lord answered Abraham on behalf of Sodom till +he ceased to ask.</p> + +<p>“The Lord has had His way so long with Hudson +Taylor,” said a friend, “that now, Hudson +Taylor can have his way with the Lord.”</p> + +<p>Adoniram Judson lay sick with a fatal illness in far-away +Burmah. His wife read to him an account of the conversion +of a number of Jews in Constantinople through some +of his writings. For a while the sick man was silent, +and then he spoke with awe, telling his wife that +for years he had prayed that he might be used in some +way to bless the Jews, yet never having seen any evidence +that his prayers were answered; but now, after many +years and from far away, the evidence of answer had +come. And then, after further silence, he spoke with +deep emotion, saying that he had never prayed a prayer +for the glory of God and the good of men but that, +sooner or later, even though for the time being he +had forgotten, he found that God had not forgotten, +but had remembered and patiently worked to answer +his prayer.</p> + +<p>Oh, the faithfulness of God! He means it when He makes +promises and exhorts and urges and commands us to +pray. It is not His purpose to mock us, but to answer +and “to do exceeding abundantly above all that +we ask or think.” Bless His holy Name!</p> + +<p>3. Knowledge and wisdom must take the place of foolish +ignorance. Paul says, “We know not what we should +pray for as we ought,” and then adds, “But +the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with +groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans viii. +26). If my little child asks for a glittering razor, +I refuse its request; but when my full-grown son asks +for one I grant it. So God cannot wisely answer some +prayers, for they are foolish or untimely. Hence, +we need not love and faith only, but wisdom and knowledge, +that we may ask according to the will of God.</p> + +<p>It is this that Paul has in mind when he says that +he will not only pray with the Spirit, but “I +will pray with the understanding also” (I Cor. +xiv. 15). Men should think before they pray, and study +that they may pray wisely.</p> + +<p>Now, when the Holy Spirit comes there pours into the +soul not only a tide of love and simple faith, but +a flood of light as well, and prayer becomes not only +earnest, but intelligent also. And this intelligence +increases, as, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, +the word of God is studied, and its heavenly truths +and principles are grasped and assimilated.</p> + +<p>It is thus men come to know God and become His friends, +whose prayers He will assist and will not deny.</p> + +<p>Such men talk with God as friend with friend, and +the Holy Spirit helps their infirmities; encourages +them to urge their prayer in faith; teaches them to +reason with God; enables them to come boldly in the +name of Jesus, when oppressed with a sense of their +own insignificance and unworthiness; and, when words +fail them and they scarcely know how to voice their +desires, He intercedes within them with unutterable +groanings, according to the will of God (Romans viii. +26, 27; 1 Cor. ii. 11).</p> + +<p>A young man felt called to mission work in China, +but his mother offered strong opposition to his going. +An agent of the mission, knowing the need of the work, +and vexed with the mother, one day laid the case before +Hudson Taylor.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Taylor,” said he, “listened +patiently and lovingly to all I had to say, and then +gently suggested our praying about it. Such a prayer +I have never heard before! It seemed to me more like +a conversation with a trusted friend whose advice +he was seeking. He talked the matter over with the +Friend from every point of view—­from the +side of the young man, from the side of China’s +needs, from the side of the mother, and her natural +feelings, and also from my side. It was a revelation +to me. I saw that prayer did not mean merely asking +for things, much less asking for things to be carried +out by God according to our ideas; but that it means +<i>communion</i>, fellowship, partnership, with our +Heavenly Father. And when our will is really blended +with His, what liberty we may have in asking for what +we want!”</p> + +<p>Hallelujah!</p> + +<p> “My soul, ask what thou wilt,<br> + Thou canst not be too bold;<br> + Since His own blood for thee He spilt,<br> + What else can He withhold?”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter16"></a> +<h1>XVI.</h1> + +<h2>Characteristics of the Anointed Preacher</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Since God saves men by “the foolishness of preaching,” +the preacher has an infinitely important work, and +he must be fitted for it. But what can fit a man for +such sacred work? Not education alone, not knowledge +of books, not gifts of speech, not winsome manners, +nor a magnetic voice, nor a commanding presence, but +only God. The preacher must be more than a man—­he +must be a man plus the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>Paul was such a man. He was full of the Holy Spirit, +and in studying his life and ministry we get a life-sized +portrait of an anointed preacher living, fighting, +preaching, praying, suffering, triumphing, and dying +in the power and light and glory of the indwelling +Spirit.</p> + +<p>In the second chapter of the First of Thessalonians +he gives us a picture of his character and ministry +which were formed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, +a sample of His workmanship, and an example for all +Gospel preachers.</p> + +<p>At Philippi he had been terribly beaten with stripes +on his bare back, and roughly thrust into the inner +dungeon, and his feet were made fast in the stocks; +but that did not break nor quench his spirit. Love +burned in his heart, and his joy in the Lord brimmed +full and bubbled over, and at midnight, in the damp, +dark, loathsome dungeon, he and Silas, his comrade +in service and suffering, “prayed and sang praises +unto God.” God answered with an earthquake, +and the jailer and his household got gloriously converted. +Paul was set free and went at once to Thessalonica, +where, regardless of the shameful way he had been treated +at Philippi, he preached the Gospel boldly, and a +blessed revival followed with many converts; but persecution +arose, and Paul had again to flee. His heart, however, +was continually turning back to these converts, and +at last he sat down and wrote them this letter. From +this we learn that—­</p> + +<p>1. He was a <i>joyful</i> preacher. He was no pessimist, +croaking out doleful prophecies and lamentations and +bitter criticisms. He was full of the joy of the Lord. +It was not the joy that comes from good health, a +pleasant home, plenty of money, wholesome food, numerous +and smiling friends, and sunny, favouring skies; but +a deep, springing fountain of solemn, gladdening joy +that abounded and overflowed in pain and weariness, +in filthy, noisome surroundings, in loneliness and +poverty, and danger and bitter persecutions. No earth-born +trial could quench it, for it was Heaven-born; it +was “the joy of the Lord” poured into his +heart with the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>2. He was a <i>bold</i> preacher. Worldly prudence +would have constrained him to go softly at Thessalonica, +after his experience at Philippi, lest he arouse opposition +and meet again with personal violence; but, instead, +he says: “We were bold in our God to speak unto +you the Gospel of God with much contention.” +Personal considerations were all forgotten, or cast +to the winds, in his impetuous desire to declare the +Gospel and save their souls. He lived in the will +of God, and conquered his fears. “The wicked” +are fearful, and “flee when no man pursueth; +but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”</p> + +<p>This boldness is a fruit of righteousness, and is +always found in those who are full of the Holy Ghost. +They forget themselves, and so lose all fear. This +was the secret of the martyrs when burned at the stake +or thrown to the wild beasts.</p> + +<p>Fear is a fruit of selfishness. Boldness thrives when +selfishness is destroyed. God esteems it, commands +His people to be courageous, and makes spiritual leaders +only of those who possess courage (Joshua i. 9).</p> + +<p>Moses feared not the wrath of the king, refused to +be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and +boldly espoused the cause of his despised and enslaved +people.</p> + +<p>Joshua was full of courage. Gideon fearlessly attacked +one hundred and twenty thousand Midianites, with but +three hundred unarmed men.</p> + +<p>Jonathan and his armour-bearer charged the Philistine +garrison and routed hundreds singlehanded.</p> + +<p>David faced the lion and the bear, and inspired all +Israel by battling with and killing Goliath.</p> + +<p>The prophets were men of the highest courage, who +fearlessly rebuked kings, and at the risk of life, +and often at the cost of life, denounced popular sins, +and called the people back to righteousness and the +faithful service of God. These men feared God, and +so lost the fear of man. They believed God, and so +obeyed Him, and found His favour, and were entrusted +with His high missions and everlasting employments.</p> + +<p>“Fear thou not, for I am with thee,” saith +the Lord; and this Paul believed, and so says, “We +were bold in our God.” God was his high tower, +his strength and unfailing defence, and so he was +not afraid.</p> + +<p>His boldness toward man was a fruit of his boldness +toward God, and that, in turn, was a fruit of his +faith in Jesus as his High Priest, who had been touched +with the feeling of his infirmities, and through whom +he could “come boldly to the Throne of Grace, +and obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time +of need.”</p> + +<p>It is the timidity and delicacy with which men attempt +God’s work that often accounts for their failure. +Let them speak out boldly like men, as ambassadors +of Heaven, who are not afraid to represent their King, +and they will command attention and respect, and reach +the hearts and consciences of men.</p> + +<p>I have read that quaint old Bishop Latimer, who was +afterwards burned at the stake, “having preached +a sermon before King Henry VIII, which greatly displeased +the monarch, was ordered to preach again on the next +Sunday, and make apology for the offence given. The +day came, and with it a crowded assembly anxious to +hear the bishop’s apology. Reading his text, +he commenced thus: ’Hugh Latimer, dost thou +know before whom thou art this day to speak? To the +high and mighty monarch, the king’s most excellent +majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest. +Therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word +that may displease. But, then, consider well, Hugh, +dost thou not know from whence thou comest? Upon whose +message thou art sent? Even by the great and mighty +God, who is all-present, and who beholdeth all thy +ways, and who is able to cast thy soul into Hell! +Therefore, take care that thou deliver thy message +faithfully.’”</p> + +<p>He then repeated the sermon of the previous Sunday, +word for word, but with double its former energy and +emphasis. The Court was full of excitement to learn +what would be the fate of this plain-dealing and fearless +bishop. He was ordered into the king’s presence, +who, with a stern voice, asked: “How dared you +thus offend me?” “I merely discharged +my duty,” was Latimer’s reply. The king +arose from his seat, embraced the good man, saying, +“Blessed be God I have so honest a servant.”</p> + +<p>He was a worthy successor of Nathan, who confronted +King David with his sin, and said, “Thou art +the man.”</p> + +<p>This Divine courage will surely accompany the fiery +baptism of the Spirit.</p> + +<p>What is it but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that +gives courage to Salvation Army Officers and Soldiers, +enabling them to face danger and difficulty and loneliness +with joy, and attack sin in its worst forms as fearlessly +as David attacked Goliath?</p> + +<p>“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, +saith the Lord.”</p> + +<p> “Shall I, for fear of feeble man,<br> + The Spirit’s course in me restrain?<br> + Awed by a mortal’s frown, shall +I<br> + Conceal the word of God most high?<br> + Shall I, to soothe the unholy throng,<br> + Soften Thy truth, or smooth my tongue?</p> + +<p> “How then before Thee shall I dare<br> + To stand, or how Thine anger bear?<br> + Yea, let men rage; since Thou wilt spread<br> + Thy shadowing wings around my head;<br> + Since in all pain Thy tender love<br> + Will still my sure refreshment prove.”</p> + +<p>3. He was <i>without guile</i>. “For our exhortation +was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; +but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with +the Gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, +but God, which trieth our hearts.”</p> + +<p>He was frank and open. He spoke right out of his heart. +He was transparently simple and straightforward. Since +God had honoured him with this infinite trust of preaching +the Gospel, he sought to so preach it that he should +please God regardless of men. And yet that is the +surest way to please men. People who listen to such +a man feel his honesty, and realise that he is seeking +to do them good, to save them rather than to tickle +their ears and win their applause, and in their hearts +they are pleased.</p> + +<p>But, anyway, whether or not they are pleased, he is +to deliver his message as an ambassador, and look +to his home government for his reward. He gets his +commission from God, and it is God who will try his +heart and prove his ministry. Oh, to please Jesus! +Oh, to stand perfect before God after preaching His +Gospel!</p> + +<p>4. He was <i>not a time-server nor a covetous man.</i> +“Neither at any time used we flattering words, +as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness,” +he adds.</p> + +<p>There are three ways of reaching a man’s purse: +(1) Directly. (2) By way of his head with flattering +words. (3) By way of his heart with manly, honest, +saving words. The first way is robbery. The second +way is robbery, with the poison of a deadly, but pleasing, +opiate added, which may damn his soul. The third reaches +his purse by saving his soul and opening in his heart +an unfailing fountain of benevolence to bless himself +and the world.</p> + +<p>It were better for a preacher to turn highwayman, +and rob men with a club and a strong hand, than, with +smiles and smooth words and feigned and fawning affection, +to rob them with flattery, while their poor souls, +neglected and deceived, go down to Hell. How will +he meet them in the Day of Judgment, and look into +their horrorstricken faces, realising that he played +and toyed with their fancies and affections and pride +to get money, and, instead of faithfully warning them +and seeking to save them, with flattering words fattened +their souls for destruction!</p> + +<p>Not so did Paul. “I seek not yours, but you,” +he wrote the Corinthians. It was not their money, +but their souls he wanted.</p> + +<p>But such faithful love will be able to command all +men have to give. Why, to some of his converts he +wrote: “I bear you record, that if it had been +possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, +and have given them to me” (Gal. iv. 15). But +he sought not to please them with flattering words, +only to save them.</p> + +<p>So faithful was he in this matter, and so conscious +of his integrity, that he called God Himself into +the witness-box. “God is witness,” says +he.</p> + +<p>Blessed is the man who can call on God to witness +for him; and that man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells +in fullness can do this. Can you, my brother?</p> + +<p>5. He was <i>not vain-glorious, nor dictatorial, nor +oppressive</i>. Some men care nothing for money, but +they care mightily for power and place and the glory +that men give. But Paul was free from this spiritual +itching. Listen to him: “Nor of men sought we +glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might +have been burdensome” (or “used authority”) +“as the Apostles of Christ.”</p> + +<p>Said Solomon, “For men to seek their own glory +is not glory,” it is only vain-glory. “How +can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, +and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” +asked Jesus.</p> + +<p>From all this Paul was free, and so is every man who +is full of the Holy Ghost. And it is only as we are +thus free that with the whole heart and with a single +eye we can devote ourselves to the work of saving +men.</p> + +<p>6. With all his boldness and faithfulness he was <i>gentle</i>. +“We were gentle among you,” he says, “as +a nurse cherisheth her children.”</p> + +<p>The fierce hurricane which casts down the giant trees +of the forest is not so mighty as the gentle sunshine, +which, from tiny seeds and acorns, lifts aloft the +towering spires of oak and fir on a thousand hills +and mountains.</p> + +<p>The wild storm that lashes the sea into foam and fury +is feeble compared to the gentle, yet immeasurably +powerful influence, which twice a day swings the oceans +in resistless tides from shore to shore.</p> + +<p>And as in the physical world the mighty powers are +gentle in their vast workings, so it is in the spiritual +world. The light that falls on the lids of the sleeping +infant and wakes it from its slumber, is not more +gentle than the “still small voice” that +brings assurance of forgiveness or cleansing to them +that look unto Jesus.</p> + +<p>Oh, the gentleness of God! “Thy gentleness hath +made me great,” said David. “I beseech +you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ” +(2 Cor. x. 1), wrote Paul. And again, “The fruit +of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, +gentleness” (Gal. v. 22). And as the Father, +Son, and Holy Ghost are gentle, so will be the servant +of the Lord who is filled with the Spirit.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the gentleness of a mighty man +of God whom I well knew, who on the platform was clothed +with zeal as with a garment, and in his overwhelming +earnestness was like a lion or a consuming fire; but +when dealing with a wounded or broken heart, or with +a seeking soul, no nurse with a little babe could be +more tender than he.</p> + +<p>7. Finally, Paul was full of <i>self-forgetful, self-sacrificing +love.</i> “So being affectionately desirous of +you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not +the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because +ye were dear unto us.”</p> + +<p>No wonder he shook those heathen cities, overthrew +their idols, had great revivals, that his jailer was +converted, and that his converts would have gladly +plucked out their eyes for him! Such tender, self-sacrificing +love compels attention, begets confidence, enkindles +love, and surely wins its object.</p> + +<p>This burning love led him to labour and sacrifice, +and so live and walk before them that he was not only +a teacher, but an example of all he taught, and could +safely say, “Follow me.”</p> + +<p>This love led him to preach the whole truth, that +he might by all means save them. He kept back no truth +because it was unpopular, for it was their salvation +and not his own reputation and popularity he sought.</p> + +<p>He preached not himself, but a crucified Christ, without +the shedding of whose blood there is no remission +of sins; and through that precious blood he preached +present cleansing from all sin, and the gift of the +Holy Spirit for all who obediently believe.</p> + +<p>And this love kept him faithful and humble and true +to the end, so that at last in sight of the martyr’s +death, he saw the martyr’s crown, and cried +out: “I am now ready to be offered,... I have +fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have +kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me +a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous +Judge, shall give me at that day.”</p> + +<p>He had been faithful, and now at the end he was oppressed +with no doubts and harassed with no bitter regrets, +but looked forward with eager joy to meeting his Lord +and beholding the blessed face of Him he loved. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p> “Have you received the Holy Ghost?<br> + ’Twill fit you for the fight,<br> + ’Twill make of you a mighty host,<br> + To put your foes to flight.</p> + +<p> “Have you received the Holy Power?<br> + ’Twill fall from Heaven on +you,<br> + From Jesus’ throne this very hour,<br> + ’Twill make you brave and +true.</p> + +<p> “Oh, now receive the Holy Fire!<br> + ’Twill burn away all dross,<br> + All earthly, selfish, vain desire,<br> + ’Twill make you love the Cross.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter17"></a> +<h1>XVII.</h1> + +<h2>Preaching</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where +is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish +the wisdom of this world?” asks Paul. And then +he declares: “After that in the wisdom of God +the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by +the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”</p> + +<p>What kind of preaching is this? He does not say, “foolish +preaching,” but the foolishness of such a way +as that of preaching. Certainly, it is not the moral +essay, or the intellectual, or semi-intellectual, +kind of preaching that is most generally heard throughout +the world to-day, that is to save men; for thousands +of such sermons move and convert no one: nor is it +a mere noisy declamation called a sermon—­noisy +because empty of all earnest thought and true feeling; +but it must be the kind of which Peter speaks when +he writes of “them that preached the Gospel +... with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven” +(1 Peter i. 12).</p> + +<p>No man is equipped to rightly preach the Gospel, and +undertake the spiritual oversight and instruction +of souls, till he has been anointed with the Holy +Ghost.</p> + +<p>The disciples had been led to Jesus by John the Baptist, +whose mighty preaching laid a deep and broad foundation +for their spiritual education, and then for three +years they had listened to both the public and private +teachings of Jesus; they had been “eye-witnesses +of His glory,” of His life and death and resurrection, +and yet He commanded them to tarry in Jerusalem, and +wait for the Holy Spirit. He was to fit them for their +ministry. And if they, trained and taught by the Master +Himself, had need of the Holy Spirit to enable them +to preach and testify with wisdom and power, how much +more do you and I need His presence!</p> + +<p>Without Him they could do nothing. With Him they were +invincible, and could continue the work of Jesus. +The mighty energy of His working is seen in the preaching +of Peter on the day of Pentecost. The sermon itself +does not seem to have been very remarkable; indeed, +it is principally composed of testimony backed up +and fortified by Scripture quotations, followed by +exhortation, just as are the sermons that are most +effective to-day in the immediate conversion and +sanctification of men. “True preaching,” +said Horace Bushnell, “is a testimony.”</p> + +<p>Peter’s Scripture quotations were apt, fitting +the occasion and the people to whom they were addressed. +The testimony was bold and joyous, the rushing outflow +of a warm, fresh throbbing experience; and the exhortation +was burning, uncompromising in its demands, and yet +tender and full of sympathy and love. But a Divine +Presence was at work in that vast, mocking, wondering +throng, and it was He who made Peter’s simple +words search like fire, and carry such overwhelming +conviction to the hearts of the people.</p> + +<p>And it is still so that whenever and wherever a man +preaches “with the Holy Ghost sent down from +Heaven,” there will be conviction.</p> + +<p>Under Peter’s sermon “they were pricked +in their hearts.” The truth pierced them as +a sword until they said, “What shall we do?” +They had been doubting and mocking a short time before, +but now they were earnestly inquiring the way to be +saved.</p> + +<p>The speech may be without polish, the manner uncouth, +and the matter simple and plain; but conviction will +surely follow any preaching in the burning love and +power and contagious joy of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>A few years ago a poor black boy in Africa, who had +been stolen for a slave, and most cruelly treated, +heard a missionary talking of the indwelling of the +Holy Spirit, and his heart hungered and thirsted for +Him. In a strange manner he worked his way to New +York to find out more about the Holy Spirit, getting +the captain of the ship and several of the crew converted +on the way. The brother in New York to whom he came +took him to a meeting the first night he was in the +city, and left him there, while he went to fulfil +another engagement. When he returned at a late hour, +he found a crowd of men at the penitent-form, led +there by the simple words of this poor black fellow. +He took him to his Sunday-school, and put him up to +speak, while he attended to some other matters. When +he turned from these affairs that had occupied his +attention for only a little while, he found the penitent-form +full of teachers and scholars, weeping before the +Lord. What the black boy had said he did not know; +but he was bowed with wonder and filled with joy, +for it was the power of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>Men used to fall as though cut down in battle under +the preaching of Wesley, Whitefield, Finney, and others. +And while there may not be the same physical manifestation +at all times, there will surely be the same opening +of eyes to spiritual things, breaking of hearts, and +piercing of consciences. The Spirit under the preaching +of a man filled with the Holy Ghost will often come +upon a congregation like a wind, and heads will droop, +eyes will brim with tears, and hearts will break under +His convicting power. I remember a proud young woman +who had been mercilessly criticising us for several +nights smitten in this way. She was smiling when suddenly +the Holy Spirit winged a word to her heart, and instantly +her countenance changed, her head drooped, and for +an hour or more she sobbed and struggled while her +proud heart broke, and she found her way with true +repentance and faith to the feet of Jesus, and her +Heavenly Father’s favour. How often have we +seen such sights as this under the preaching of The +General! And it ought to be a common sight under the +preaching of all servants of God, for what are we +sent for but to convict men of their sin and their +need, and by the power of the Spirit to lead them +to the Saviour?</p> + +<p>And not only will there be conviction under such preaching, +but generally, if not always, there will be conversion +and sanctification.</p> + +<p>Three thousand people accepted Christ under Peter’s +Pentecostal sermon, and later five thousand were converted, +and a multitude of the priests were obedient to the +faith. And it was so under the preaching of Philip +in Samaria, of Peter in Lydda and Saron and in Cæsarea, +and of Paul in Ephesus and other cities.</p> + +<p>To be sure, the preaching of Stephen in its immediate +effect only resulted in enraging his hearers until +they stoned him to death; but it is highly probable +that the ultimate result was the conversion of Paul, +who kept the clothes of those who stoned him, and +through Paul the evangelisation of the Gentiles.</p> + +<p>One of the greatest of American evangelists sought +with agonising prayers and tears the baptism with +the Holy Spirit, and received it; and then he said +he preached the same sermons; but where before it +had been as one beating the air, now hundreds were +saved.</p> + +<p>It is this that has made Salvation Army Officers successful. +Young, inexperienced, without special gifts, and without +learning, but with the baptism, they have been mighty +to win souls. The hardest hearts have been broken, +the darkest minds illuminated, the most stubborn wills +subdued, and the wildest natures tamed by them. Their +words have been with power, and have convicted and +converted and sanctified men, and whole communities +have been transformed by their labours.</p> + +<p>But without this Presence great gifts and profound +and accurate learning are without avail in the salvation +of men. We often see men with great natural powers, +splendidly trained, and equipped with everything save +this fiery baptism, and they labour and preach year +after year without seeing a soul saved. They have +spent years in study; but they have not spent a day, +much less ten days, fasting and praying and waiting +upon God for His anointing that should fill them with +heavenly wisdom and power for their work. They are +like a great gun loaded and primed, but without a +spark of fire to turn the powder and ball into a resistless +lightning bolt.</p> + +<p>It is fire men need, and that they get from God in +agonising, wrestling, listening prayer that will not +be denied; and when they get it, and not till then, +will they preach with the Holy Ghost sent down from +Heaven, and surely men shall be saved. Such preaching +is not foolish. The Holy Spirit makes the word alive. +He brings it to the remembrance of the preachers in +whom He abides, and He applies it to the heart of +the hearers, lightening up the soul as with a sun +until sin is seen in all its hideousness, or cutting +as a sharp sword, piercing the heart with resistless +conviction of the guilt and shame of sin.</p> + +<p>Peter had no time to consult the Scriptures and prepare +a sermon on the morning of Pentecost; but the Holy +Spirit quickened his memory, and brought to his mind +the Scriptures appropriate to the occasion.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of years before, the Holy Spirit, by the +mouth of the prophet Joel, had foretold that in the +last days the Spirit should be poured out upon all +flesh, and that their sons and daughters should prophesy. +And the same Spirit that spoke through Joel now made +Peter to see and declare that this Pentecostal baptism +was that of which Joel spoke.</p> + +<p>By the mouth of David He had said: “Thou wilt +not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer +Thy Holy One to see corruption”; and now Peter, +by the inspiration of the same Spirit, applies this +Scripture to the resurrection of Jesus, and so proves +to the Jews that the One they had condemned and killed +was the Holy One foretold in prophecy and psalm.</p> + +<p>And so to-day the Holy Spirit inspires men who receive +Him to use the Scriptures to awaken, convict, and +save men.</p> + +<p>When Finney was a young preacher, he was invited to +a country school-house to preach. On the way there +he became much distressed in soul, and his mind seemed +blank and dark, when all at once this text, spoken +to Lot in Sodom by the angels, came to his mind: “Up, +get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy +this city.” He explained the text, told the people +about Lot, and the wickedness of Sodom, and applied +it to them. While he spoke they began to look exceedingly +angry, and then, as he earnestly exhorted them to +give up their sins and seek the Lord, they began to +fall from their seats as though stricken down in battle, +and to cry to God for mercy. A great revival followed; +many were converted, and a number of the converts became +ministers of the Gospel.</p> + +<p>To Finney’s amazement, he learned afterwards +that the place was called Sodom, because of its extreme +wickedness, and the old man who had invited him to +preach was called Lot, because he was the only God-fearing +man in the place. Evidently the Holy Spirit worked +through Finney to accomplish these results. And such +inspiration is not uncommon with those who are filled +with the Spirit.</p> + +<p>But this reinforcement of the mind and memory by the +Holy Spirit does not do away with the need of study. +The Spirit quickens that which is already in the mind +and memory, as the warm sun and rains of spring quicken +the sleeping seeds that are in the ground, and only +those.</p> + +<p>The sun does not put the seed in the soil, nor does +the Holy Spirit without our attention and study put +the word of God in our minds. For that we should prayerfully +and patiently study.</p> + +<p>“We will give ourselves continually to prayer, +and to the ministry of the word,” said the Apostles.</p> + +<p>“Study to show thyself approved of God, a workman +that needeth not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the +word of truth,” wrote Paul to Timothy.</p> + +<p>Those men have been best able to rightly divide the +word, and have been most mightily used by the Holy +Spirit, who have most carefully and prayerfully studied +the word of God, and most constantly and lovingly +meditated upon it.</p> + +<p>4. This preaching is <i>healing and comforting.</i> +Preaching “with the Holy Ghost sent down from +Heaven” is indescribably searching in its effects. +But it is also edifying, strengthening, comforting +to those who are wholly the Lord’s. It cuts, +but only to cure. It searches, but only to save. It +is constructive, as well as destructive. It tears +down sin and pride and unbelief, but it builds up +faith and righteousness and holiness and all the graces +of a Christian character. It warms the heart with love, +strengthens faith, and confirms the will in all holy +purposes.</p> + +<p>Every preacher baptised with the Holy Ghost can say +with Jesus: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon +Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good +tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up +the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, +and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; +to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the +day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.”</p> + +<p>Seldom is there a congregation in which there are +only those who need to be convicted. There will also +be meek and gentle ones to whom should be brought +a message of joy and good tidings; broken-hearted +ones to be bound up; wounded ones to heal; tempted +ones to be delivered; and those whom Satan has bound +by some fear or habit to be set free; and the Holy +Spirit who knows all hearts will inspire the word +that shall bless these needy ones.</p> + +<p>The preacher filled with the Holy Spirit, who is instant +in prayer, constant in the study of God’s word, +and steadfast and active in faith, will surely be +so helped that he can say with Isaiah: “The +Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, +that I should know how to speak a word in season to +him that is weary” (Isaiah i. 4). And as with +little Samuel, the Lord will “let none of his +words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel iii. 19).</p> + +<p>He will expect results, and God will make them follow +his preaching as surely as corn follows the planting +and cultivating of the farmer.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter18"></a> +<h1>XVIII.</h1> + +<h2>The Holy Spirit’s Call to the Work</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>“THE Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because +the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto +the meek; He hath sent Me” (Isaiah lxi. 1), +is the testimony of the workman God sends.</p> + +<p>God chooses His own workmen, and it is the office +of the Holy Spirit to call whom He will to preach +the Gospel. I doubt not He calls men to other employments +for His glory, and would still more often do so, if +men would but listen and wait upon Him to know His +will.</p> + +<p>He called Bezaleel and Aholiab to build the tabernacle. +He called and commissioned the Gentile king, Cyrus, +to rebuild Jerusalem and restore His chastised and +humbled people to their own land. And did He not call +Joan of Arc to her strange and wonderful mission? +And Washington and Lincoln?</p> + +<p>And, no doubt, He <i>leads</i> most men by His providence +to their life-work; but the call to preach the Gospel +is more than a providential leading; it is a distinct +and imperative conviction. Bishop Simpson, in his +“Lectures on Preaching,” says:—­</p> + +<p>“Even in its faintest form there is this distinction +between a call to the ministry and a choice of other +professions: a young man may <i>wish</i> to be a physician; +he may <i>desire</i> to enter the navy; he would <i>like</i> +to be a farmer; but he feels he <i>ought</i> to be +a minister. It is this feeling of <i>ought</i>, or +obligation, which in its feeblest form indicates the +Divine call. It is not in the aptitude, taste, or +desire, but in the conscience, that its root is found. +It is the voice of God to the human conscience, saying, +‘You ought to preach.’”</p> + +<p>Sometimes the call comes as distinctly as though a +voice had spoken from the skies into the depths of +the heart.</p> + +<p>A young man who was studying law was converted. After +a while he was convicted for sanctification, and while +seeking he heard, as it were, a voice, saying, “Will +you devote all your time to the Lord?” He replied: +“I am to be a lawyer, not a preacher, Lord.” +But not until he had said, “Yes, Lord,” +could he find the blessing.</p> + +<p>A thoughtless, godless young fellow was working in +the corn-field when a telegram was handed him announcing +the death of his brother, a brilliant and devoted +Salvation Army Field Officer; and there and then, +unsaved as he was, God called him, showed him a vast +Army with ranks broken, where his brother had fallen, +and made him to feel that he should fill the breach +in the ranks. Fourteen months later he took up the +sword, and entered the Fight from the same platform +from which his brother fell, and is to-day one of +our most successful and promising Field Officers.</p> + +<p>Again, the call may come as a quiet suggestion, a +gentle conviction, as though a gossamer bridle were +placed upon the heart and conscience to guide the +man into the work of the Lord. The suggestion gradually +becomes clearer, the conviction strengthens until +it masters the man, and if he seeks to escape it, +he finds the silken bridle to be one of stoutest thongs +and firmest steel.</p> + +<p>It was so with me. When but a boy of eleven, I heard +a man preaching, and I said to myself, “Oh, +how beautiful to preach!” Two years later I +was converted, and soon the conviction came upon me +that I should preach. Later, I decided to follow another +profession; but the conviction increased in strength, +while I struggled against it, and turned away my ears +and went on with my studies. Yet in every crisis, +or hour of stillness, when my soul faced God, the +conviction that I must preach burned itself deeper +into my conscience. I rebelled against it. I felt I +would almost rather (but not quite) go to Hell than +to submit. Then at last a great “Woe is me, +if I preach not the Gospel,” took possession +of me, and I yielded, and God won. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>The first year He gave me three revivals, with many +souls; and now I would rather preach Jesus to poor +sinners and feed His lambs than to be an archangel +before the Throne. Some day, some day, He will call +me into His blessed presence, and I shall stand before +His face, and praise Him for ever for counting me worthy, +and calling me to preach His glad Gospel, and share +in His joy of saving the lost. The “woe” +is lost in love and delight through the baptism of +the Spirit and the sweet assurance that Jesus is pleased.</p> + +<p>Occasionally, the call comes to a man who is ready +and responds promptly and gladly. When Isaiah received +the fiery touch that purged his life and purified +his heart, he “heard the voice of the Lord, +saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” +And in the joy and power of his new experience, he +cried out, “Here am I; send me!” (Isaiah +vi. 5-8).</p> + +<p>When Paul received his call, he says, “Immediately +I conferred not with flesh and blood” (Gal. +i. 16), and he got up and went as the Lord led him.</p> + +<p>But more often it seems the Lord finds men preoccupied +with other plans and ambitions, or encompassed with +obstacles and difficulties, or oppressed with a deep +sense of unworthiness or unfitness. Moses argued that +he could not talk. “O Lord!” he said, “I +am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since Thou +hast spoken unto Thy servant; but I am slow of speech, +and of a slow tongue.”</p> + +<p>And then the Lord condescended, as He always does, +to reason with the backward man. “Who hath made +man’s mouth?” He asks, “or who maketh +the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have +not I the Lord? Now, therefore, go, and I will be +with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” +(Exodus iv. 10-12).</p> + +<p>When the call of God came to Jeremiah, he shrank back, +and said, “Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: +for I am a child.” But the Lord replied, “Say +not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I +shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou +shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am +with thee to deliver thee” (Jeremiah i. 6-8).</p> + +<p>And so the call of God comes to-day to those who shrink +and feel that they are the most unfit, or most hedged +in by insuperable difficulties.</p> + +<p>I know a man, who, when converted, could not tell +A from B. He knew nothing whatever about the Bible, +and stammered so badly that, when asked his own name, +it would usually take him a minute or so to tell it; +added to this, he lisped badly, and was subject to +a nervous affliction which seemed likely to unfit him +for any kind of work whatever. But God poured light +and love into his heart, called him to preach, and +to-day he is one of the mightiest soul-winners in +the whole round of my acquaintance. When he speaks +the house is always packed to the doors, and the people +hang on his words with wonder and joy.</p> + +<p>He was converted at a Camp meeting, and sanctified +wholly in a cornfield. He learned to read; but, being +too poor to afford a light in the evening, he studied +a large-print Bible by the light of the full moon. +To-day, he has the Bible almost committed to memory, +and when he speaks he does not open the Book, but reads +his lesson from memory, and quotes proof texts from +Genesis to Revelation without mistake, and gives chapter +and verse for every quotation. When he talks his face +shines, and his speech is like honey for sweetness, +and like bullets fired from a gun for power. He is +one of the weak and foolish ones God has chosen to +confound the wise and mighty (1 Cor. i. 27).</p> + +<p>If God calls a man, He will so corroborate the call +in some way, that men may know that there is a prophet +among them. It will be with him as it was with Samuel. +“And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, +and did let none of His words fall to the ground. +And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that +Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord” +(1 Samuel iii. 19, 20).</p> + +<p>If the man himself is uncertain about the call, God +will deal patiently with him, as He did with Gideon, +to make him certain. His fleece will be wet with dew +when the earth is dry, or dry when the earth is wet; +or he will hear of some tumbling barley cake smiting +the tents of Midian, that will strengthen his faith, +and make him to know that God is with him (Judges vi. +36-40; vii. 9-15).</p> + +<p>If the door is shut and difficulties hedge the way, +God will go before the man He calls, and open the +door and sweep away the difficulties (Isaiah xlv. +2, 3).</p> + +<p>If others think the man so ignorant and unfit that +they doubt his call, God will give him such grace +or such power to win souls that they shall have to +acknowledge that God has chosen him. It was in this +way that God made a whole National Headquarters, from +the Commissioner downwards, to know that He had chosen +the elevator boy for His work. The boy got scores +of his passengers on the elevator saved, and then +he was commissioned and sent into the Field to devote +all his time to saving men.</p> + +<p>The Lord will surely let the man’s comrades +and brethren know, as surely as He did the Church +at Antioch, when “the Holy Ghost said, Separate +Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have +called them” (Acts xiii. 2).</p> + +<p>Sometimes the one who is called will try to hide it +in his heart, and then God stirs up some Officer or +minister, some Soldier or mother in Israel, to lay +a hand on his shoulders, and ask, “Are you not +called to the work?” and he finds he cannot hide +himself nor escape from the call, any more than could +Adam hide himself from God behind the trees of the +garden, or Jonah escape God’s call by taking +ship for Tarshish.</p> + +<p>Happy is the man who does not try to escape, but, +though trembling at the mighty responsibility, assumes +it, and, with all humility and faithfulness, sets +to work by prayer and patient, continuous study of +God’s word, to fit himself for God’s work. +He will need to prepare himself, for the call to the +work is also a call to preparation, continuous preparation +of the fullest possible kind.</p> + +<p>The man whom God calls cannot safely neglect or despise +the call. He will find his mission on earth, his happiness +and peace, his power and prosperity, his reward in +Heaven, and probably Heaven itself, bound up with +that call and dependent upon it. He may run away from +it, as did Jonah, and find a waiting ship to favour +his flight; but he will also find fierce storms and +bellowing seas overtaking him, and big-mouthed fishes +of trouble and disaster ready to swallow him.</p> + +<p>But if he heeds the call, and cheerfully goes where +God appoints, God will go with him; he shall nevermore +be left alone. The Holy Spirit will surely accompany +him, and he may be one of the happiest men on earth, +one of the gladdest creatures in God’s universe.</p> + +<p>“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end +of the world,” said Jesus, as He commissioned +His disciples to go to all nations and preach the +Gospel. “My presence shall go with thee,” +said Jehovah to Moses, when sending him to face Pharaoh +and free Israel, and lead them to the Promised Land.</p> + +<p>And to the boy Jeremiah, He said, “Be not afraid +of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee.... +And they shall fight against thee; but they shall +not prevail against thee; for I am with thee” +(Jeremiah i. 8, 19).</p> + +<p>I used to read these words with a great and rapturous +joy, as I realised by faith that they were also meant +for me, and for every man sent of God, and that His +blessed presence was with me every time I spoke to +the people or dealt with an individual soul, or knelt +in prayer with a penitent seeker after God; and I still +read them so.</p> + +<p>Has He called you into the work, my brother? And are +you conscious of His helpful, sympathising, loving +presence with you? If so, let no petty offence, no +hardship, nor danger, nor dread of the future, cause +you to turn aside or draw back. Stick to the work +till He calls you out, and when He so calls you can +go with open face and a heart abounding with love, +joy, and peace, and He will still go with you.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter19"></a> +<h1>XIX.</h1> + +<h2>The Sheathed Sword: A Law of the Spirit</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Just as the moss and the oak are higher in the order +of creation than the clod of clay and the rock, the +bird and beast than the moss and the oak, the man +than the bird and the beast, so the spiritual man +is a higher being than the natural man. The sons of +God are a new order of being. The Christian is a “new +creation.” Just as there are laws governing +the life of the plant, and other and higher laws that +of the bird and beast, so there are higher laws for +man, and still higher for the Christian. It was with +regard to one of these higher laws that govern the +heavenly life of the Christian that Jesus said to +Peter, “Put up thy sword.”</p> + +<p>Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of +this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then +would My servants fight.” The natural man is +a fighter. It is the law of his carnal nature. He +fights with fist and sword, tongue and wit. His kingdom +is of this world, and he fights for it with such weapons +as this world furnishes. The Christian is a citizen +of Heaven, and is subject to its law, which is universal, +wholehearted love. In his kingdom he conquers not +by fighting, but by submitting. When an enemy takes +his coat, he overcomes him, not by going to law, but +by generously giving him his cloak also. When his +enemy compels him to go a mile with him, he vanquishes +the enemy by cheerfully going two miles with him. +When he is smitten on one cheek, he wins his foe by +meekly turning the other cheek. This is the law of +the new life from Heaven, and only by recognising and +obeying it can that new life be sustained and passed +on to others. This is the narrow way which leads to +life eternal, “and few there be that find it,” +or, finding it, are willing to walk in it.</p> + +<p>A Russian peasant, Sutajeff, could get no help from +the religious teachers of his village, so he learned +to read, and while studying the Bible he found this +narrow way, and walked gladly in it. One night neighbours +of his stole some of his grain, but in their haste +or carelessness they left a bag. He found it, and ran +after them to restore it, “for,” said he, +“fellows who have to steal must be hard up.” +And by this Christlike spirit he saved both himself +and them, for he kept the spirit of love in his own +heart, and they were converted and became his most +ardent disciples.</p> + +<p>A beggar woman, to whom he gave lodging, stole the +bedding and ran away with it. She was pursued by the +neighbours, and was just about to be put in prison +when Sutajeff appeared, became her advocate, secured +her acquittal, and gave her food and money for her +journey.</p> + +<p>He recognised the law of his new life and gladly obeyed +it, and so was not overcome of evil, but persistently +and triumphantly overcame evil with good (Romans xii. +21).</p> + +<p>This is the spirit and method of Jesus; and by men +filled with this spirit and following this method +He will yet win the world.</p> + +<p>He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, +and to give His life a ransom for many. His spirit +is not one of self-seeking, but of self-sacrifice. +Some mysterious majesty of His presence or voice so +awed and overcame His foes that they went back and +fell to the ground before Him in the Garden of His +agony, but He meekly submitted Himself to them; and +when Peter laid to with his sword, and cut off the +ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus said +to him, “Put up thy sword into the sheath; the +cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink +it?”</p> + +<p>This was the spirit of Isaac. When he digged a well, +the Philistines strove with his servants for it; so +he digged another; and when they strove for that, +he removed and digged yet another, “and for +that they strove not: and he called the name of it +Rehoboth” (margin, <i>room</i>): “and he +said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and +we shall be fruitful in the land.... And the Lord +appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the +God of Abraham, thy father: fear not, for I am with +thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed” +(Genesis xxvi. 22, 24).</p> + +<p>This was the spirit of David, when Saul was hunting +for his life; twice David could have slain him, and +when urged to do so, he said, “As the Lord liveth, +the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to +die; or he shall descend into battle and perish. The +Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against +the Lord’s anointed” (1 Samuel xxvi. 10, +11).</p> + +<p>This was the spirit of Paul. He says, “Being +reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; +being defamed, we intreat” (1 Cor. iv. 12, 13). +“The servant of the Lord must not strive,” +wrote Paul to Timothy, “but be gentle unto all +men.” This is the spirit of our King, this is +the law of His Kingdom.</p> + +<p>Is this your spirit? When you are reviled, bemeaned +and slandered, and are tempted to retort, He says +to you, “Put up thy sword into the sheath.” +When you are wronged and illtreated, and men ride +rough-shod over you, and you feel it but just to smite +back, He says, “Put up thy sword into the sheath.” +“Live peaceably with all men.” Your weapons +are not carnal, but spiritual, now that you belong +to Him, and have your citizenship in Heaven. If you +fight with the sword; if you retort and smite back +when you are wronged, you quench the Spirit; you get +out of the narrow way, and your new life from Heaven +will perish.</p> + +<p>An Officer went to a hard Corps, and after a while +found that his predecessor was sending back to friends +for money which his own Corps much needed. He felt +it to be an injustice, and, losing sight of the Spirit +of Jesus, he made a complaint about it, and the money +was returned. But he got lean in his soul. He had +quenched the Spirit. He had broken the law of the Kingdom. +He had not only refused to give his cloak, but had +fought for and secured the return of the coat. He +had lost the smile of Jesus, and his poor heart was +sad and heavy within him. He came to me with anxious +inquiry as to what I thought of his action. I had to +admit that the other man had transgressed, and that +the money ought to be returned, but that he should +have been more grieved over the unchristlike spirit +of his brother than over the loss of the five dollars, +and that like Sutajeff he should have said, “Poor +fellow! he must be hard up; I will send him five dollars +myself. He has taken my coat, he shall have my cloak +too.” When I told him that story, he came to +himself very quickly, and was soon back in the narrow +way and rejoicing in the smile of Jesus once again.</p> + +<p>“But will not people walk over us, if we do +not stand up for our rights?” you ask. I do +not argue that you are not to stand up for your rights; +but that you are to stand up for your higher rather +than your lower rights, the rights of your heavenly +life rather than your earthly life, and that you are +to stand up for your rights in the way and spirit +of Jesus rather than in the way and spirit of the +world.</p> + +<p>If men wrong you intentionally, they wrong themselves +far worse than they wrong you; and if you have the +spirit of Jesus in your heart you will pity them more +than you pity yourself. They nailed Jesus to the cross +and hung Him up to die; they gave Him gall and vinegar +to drink; they cast votes for His seamless robe, and +divided His garments between them, while the crowd +wagged their heads at Him and mocked Him. Great was +the injustice and wrong they were inflicting upon +Him, but He was not filled with anger, only pity. +He thought not of the wrong done Him, but of the wrong +they did themselves, and their sin against His Heavenly +Father, and He prayed not for judgment upon them, +but that they might be forgiven, and He won them, +and is winning and will win the world. Bless God!</p> + +<p>“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged,” +wrote Solomon. “Put up thy sword into the sheath, +“and take mercy and truth for your weapons, +and God will be with you and for you, and great shall +be your victory and joy. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter20"></a> +<h1>XX.</h1> + +<h2>Victory Through the Holy Spirit Over Suffering</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Had there been no sin our Heavenly Father would have +found other means by which to develop in us passive +virtues, and train us in the graces of meekness, patience, +long-suffering, and forbearance, which so beautify +and display the Christian character. But since sin +is here, with its contradictions and falsehoods, its +darkness, its wars, brutalities and injustices, producing +awful harvests of pain and sorrow, God, in wonderful +wisdom and lovingkindness, turns even these into instruments +by which to fashion in us beautiful graces. Storm +succeeds sunshine, and darkness the light; pain follows +hard on the heels of pleasure, while sorrow peers +over the shoulder of joy; gladness and grief, rest +and toil, peace and war, interminably intermingled, +follow each other in ceaseless succession in this +world. We cannot escape suffering while in the body. +But we can receive it with a faith that robs it of +its terror, and extracts from it richest blessing; +from the flinty rock will gush forth living waters, +and the carcase of the lion will furnish the sweetest +honey.</p> + +<p>This is so even when the suffering is a result of +our own folly or sin. It is intended not only in some +measure as a punishment, but also as a teacher, a +corrective, a remedy, a warning; and it will surely +work for good, if, instead of repining and vainly +regretting the past, we steadily look unto Jesus and +learn our lesson in patience and thankfulness.</p> + +<p> “If all the skies were sunshine,<br> + Our faces would be fain<br> + To feel once more upon them<br> + The cooling plash of rain.</p> + +<p> “If all the world were music,<br> + Our hearts would often long<br> + For one sweet strain of silence<br> + To break the endless song.</p> + +<p> “If life were always merry,<br> + Our souls would seek relief<br> + And rest from weary laughter<br> + In the quiet arms of grief.”</p> + +<p>Doubtless all our suffering is a result of sin, but +not necessarily the sin of the sufferer. Jesus was +the sinless One, but He was also the Chief of sufferers. +Paul’s great and lifelong sufferings came upon +him, not because of his sins, but rather because he +had forsaken sin, and was following Jesus in a world +of sin, and seeking the salvation of his fellows. In +this path there is no escape from suffering, though +there are hidden and unspeakable consolations. “In +the world ye shall have tribulation,” said Jesus. +“All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall +suffer persecution,” wrote Paul.</p> + +<p>Sooner or later, suffering in some form comes to each +of us. It may come through broken health, or pain +and weariness of body; or through mental anguish, +moral distress, spiritual darkness and uncertainty. +It may come through the loss of loved ones, through +betrayal by trusted friends; or through deferred or +ruined hopes, or base ingratitude; or perhaps in unrequited +toil and sacrifice and ambitions all unfulfilled. +Nothing more clearly distinguishes the man filled +with the Spirit from the man who is not than the way +each receives suffering.</p> + +<p>One with triumphant faith and shining face and strong +heart glories in tribulation, and counts it all joy. +To this class belong the Apostles, who, beaten and +threatened, “departed from the council, rejoicing +that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for +His Name” (Acts v. 41).</p> + +<p>The other with doubts and fears, murmurs and complains, +and to his other miseries adds that of a rebellious +heart and discontented mind. One sees the enemy’s +armed host, and unmixed distress and danger; the other +sees the angel of the Lord, with abundant succour +and safety (2 Kings vi. 15-17).</p> + +<p>An evangelist of my acquaintance told a story that +illustrates this. When a pastor he went one morning +to visit two sisters who were greatly afflicted. They +were about the same age, and had long been professing +Christians and members of the Church. He asked the +first one upon whom he called, “How is it with +you this morning?” “Oh, I have not slept +all night,” she replied. “I have so much +pain. It is so hard to have to lie here. I cannot see +why God deals so with me.” Evidently, she was +not filled with the Spirit, but was in a controversy +with the Lord about her sufferings, and would not +be comforted.</p> + +<p>Leaving her he called immediately upon the other sister, +and asked, “How are you to-day?” “Oh, +I had such a night of suffering!” she replied. +“Then,” said he, “there came out +upon her worn face, furrowed and pale, a beautiful +radiance, and she added, “but Jesus was so near +and helped me so, that I could suffer this way and +more, if my Father thinks best”; and on she +went with like words of cheer and triumph that made +the sick room a vestibule of glory. No lack of comfort +in her heart, for the Comforter Himself, the Holy +Spirit, had been invited and had come in. One had +the Comforter in fullness, the other had not.</p> + +<p>Probably, no man ever suffered more than Paul, but +with soldier-like fortitude he bore his heavy burdens, +faced his constant and exacting labours, endured his +sore trials, disappointments, and bitter persecutions +by fierce and relentless enemies; he stood unmoved +amid shipwrecks, stripes and imprisonments, cold, hunger, +and homelessness without a whimper that might suggest +repining or discouragement, or an appeal for pity. +Indeed, he went beyond simple uncomplaining fortitude, +and said, “we glory in tribulation” (Romans +v. 3); “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation” +(2 Cor. vii. 4); “I take pleasure in infirmities, +in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in +distresses for Christ’s sake” (2 Cor. +xii. 10). After a terrible scourging upon his bare +back, he was thrust into a loathsome inner dungeon, +his feet fast in the stocks, with worse things probably +awaiting him on the morrow. Nevertheless, we find +him and Silas, his companion in suffering, at midnight +praying and singing praises unto God (Acts xvi. 25).</p> + +<p>What is his secret? Listen to him: “Because +the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the +Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans v. +5). His prayer for his Ephesian brethren had been +answered in his own heart: “That He would grant +you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened +with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ +may dwell in your hearts by faith.” And this +inner strength and consciousness, through faith, in +an indwelling Christ enabled him to receive suffering +and trial, not stoically as the Red Indian, nor hilariously, +in a spirit of bravado, but cheerfully and with a +thankful heart.</p> + +<p>Arnold of Rugby has written something about his “most +dear and blessed sister” that illustrates the +power flowing from exhaustless fountains of inner +joy and strength through the working of the Holy Spirit. + He says:—­</p> + +<p>“I never saw a more perfect instance of the +spirit and power of love, and of a sound mind. Her +life was a daily martyrdom for twenty years, during +which she adhered to her early-formed resolution of +never talking about herself; she was thoughtful about +the very pins and ribands of my wife’s dress, +about the making of a doll’s cap for a child—­but +of herself, save only as regarded her ripening in +all goodness, wholly thoughtless, enjoying everything +lovely, graceful, beautiful, high-minded, whether +in God’s works or man’s, with the keenest +relish; inheriting the earth to the very fullness +of the promise, though never leaving her crib, nor +changing her posture; and preserved, through the very +valley of the shadow of death, from all fear or impatience, +and from every cloud of impaired reason, which might +mar the beauty of Christ’s and the Spirit’s +work.”</p> + +<p>It is not by hypnotising the soul, nor by blessing +it into a state of ecstatic insensibility, that the +Lord enables the man filled with the Spirit to thus +triumph over suffering. Rather it is by giving the +soul a sweet, constant, and unshaken assurance through +faith: First, that it is freely and fully accepted +in Christ. Second, that whatever suffering comes, +it is measured, weighed, and permitted by love infinitely +tender, and guided by wisdom that cannot err. Third, +that however difficult it may be to explain suffering +now, it is nevertheless <i>one</i> of the “all +things” which “work together for good to +them that love God,” and that in a “little +while” it will not only be swallowed up in the +ineffable blessedness and glory, but that in some way +it is actually helping to work out “a far more +exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. +iv. 7). Fourth, that though the furnace has been heated +seven times hotter than was wont, yet “the Form... +like unto the Son of God” is walking with us +in the fire; though triumphant enemies have thrust +us into the lions’ den, yet the angel of the +Lord arrived first and locked the lions’ jaws; +though foes may have formed against us sharp weapons, +yet they cannot prosper, for His shield and buckler +defend us; though all things be lost, yet “Thou +remainest”; and though “my flesh and my +heart may fail, God is the strength of my heart and +my portion for ever.”</p> + +<p>Not all God’s dear children thus triumph over +their difficulties and sufferings, but this is God’s +standard, and they may attain unto it, if, by faith, +they will open their hearts and “be filled with +the Spirit.”</p> + +<p>Here is the testimony of a Salvation Army Officer +up to date:—­</p> + +<p>“Viewed from the outside, my life as a sinner +was easy and untroubled, over which most of my friends +expressed envy; while these same friends thought my +life as a Christian full of care, toil, hardship, +and immense loss. This, however, was only an outside +view, and the real state of the case was exactly the +opposite of what they supposed. For in all the pleasure-seeking, +idleness, and freedom from responsibility of my life +apart from God, I carried an immeasurable burden of +fear, anxiety, and constantly recurring disappointment; +trifles weighed upon me, and the thought of death +haunted me with vague terrors.</p> + +<p>“But when I gave myself wholly to God, though +my lot became at once one of toil, responsibility, +comparative poverty and sacrifice, yet I could not +feel pain in any storm that broke over my head, because +of the presence of God. It was not so much that I +was insensible to trouble, as sensible of His presence +and love; and the worst trials were as nothing in +my sight, nor have been for over twenty-two years. +While as for death, it appears only as a doorway into +more abundant life, and I can alter an old German +hymn, and sing with joy:</p> + +<p> “‘Oh, how my heart with rapture +dances.<br> + To think my dying hour advances!<br> + Then, Lord, with Thee!<br> + My Lord, with Thee!’”</p> + +<p>This is faith’s triumph over the worst the world +can offer through the blessed fullness of the indwelling +Comforter. Bless His Name!</p> + +<p> “Here speaks the Comforter, Light +of the straying,<br> + Hope of the penitent, Advocate sure,<br> + Joy of the desolate, tenderly saying,<br> + ‘Earth has no sorrow My grace +cannot cure.’”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter21"></a> +<h1>XXI.</h1> + +<h2>The Overflowing Blessing</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>The children of Israel were instructed by Moses to +give tithes of all they had to the Lord, and in return +God promised to richly bless them, making their fields +and vineyards fruitful and causing their flocks and +herds to safely multiply. But they became covetous +and unbelieving, and began to rob God by withholding +their tithes, and then God began to withhold His blessing +from them.</p> + +<p>But still God loved and pitied them, and sent to them +again and again by His prophets; and finally by the +prophet Malachi He said: “Bring ye all the tithes +into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine +house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of +Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, +and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not +be room enough to receive it” (Malachi iii. +10).</p> + +<p>He promised to make their barns overflow, if they +would be faithful, if they would pay their tithes +and discharge their obligations to Him.</p> + +<p>Now, this overflow of barns and granaries is a type +of overflowing hearts and lives when we give ourselves +fully to God, and the blessed Holy Ghost comes in, +and Jesus becomes all and in all to us. The blessing +is too big to contain, but just bursts out and overflows +through the life, the looks, the conversation, the +very tones of the voice, and gladdens and refreshes +and purifies wherever it goes. Jesus calls it “rivers +of living water” (John vii. 38).</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>love</i>. Sin brings in +an overflow of hate, so that the world is filled with +wars and murders, slanders, oppression, and selfishness. +But this blessing causes love to overflow. Schools, +colleges, and hospitals are built; shelters, rescue +homes, and orphanages are opened; even war itself +is in some measure humanised by the Red Cross Society +and Christian commissions. Sinners love their own, +but this blessing makes us to love all men—­strangers, +the heathen, and even our enemies.</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>peace</i>. It settles old +quarrels and grudges. It makes a different atmosphere +in the home. The children know it when father and +mother get the Comforter. Kindly words and sweet goodwill +take the place of bitterness and strife. I suspect +that even the dumb beasts realise the overflow.</p> + +<p>I heard a laughable story of a man whose cow would +switch her tail in his face, and then kick over the +pail when he was milking her, after which he would +always give her a beating with the stool on which +he sat. But he got the blessing, and his heart was +overflowing with peace. The next morning he went to +milk that cow, and when the pail was nearly full, +swish! came the tail in his face, and with a vicious +kick she knocked over the pail, and then ran across +the barn-yard. The blessed man picked up the empty +pail and stool and went over to the cow, which stood +trembling, awaiting the usual kicks and beating; but +instead he patted her gently, and said, “You +may kick over that pail as often as you please, but +I am not going to beat you any more”; and the +cow seemed to understand, for she dropped her head +and quietly began to eat, and never kicked again! +That story is good enough to be true, and I doubt +not it is, for certainly when the Comforter comes +a great peace fills the heart and overflows through +all the life.</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>joy</i>. It makes the face +to shine; it glances from the eye, and bubbles out +in thanksgiving and praise. You never can tell when +one who has the blessing will shout out, “Glory +to God! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen!”</p> + +<p>I have sometimes seen a whole congregation wakened +up and refreshed and made glad by the joyous overflow +from one clean-hearted soul. A Salvation Soldier +or Officer with an overflow of genuine joy is worth +a whole company of ordinary folks. He is a host within +himself, and is a living proof of the text, “The +joy of the Lord is your strength.”</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>patience</i> and <i>long-suffering.</i> +A man got this blessing, and his wicked wife was so +enraged that she left him, and went across the way +and lived as the wife of his unmarried brother. He +was terribly tempted to take his gun and go over and +kill them both. But he prayed about it, and the Lord +gave him the patience and long-suffering of Jesus, +who bears long with the backslider who leaves Him and +joins himself with the world; and he continued to treat +them with the utmost kindness, as though they had +done him no wrong. Some people might say the man was +weak, but I should say he was unusually “strong +in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and a +neighbour of his told me that all his neighbours believed +in his religion.</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>goodness</i> and <i>generosity</i>. +I read the other day of a poor man who supports eight +workers in the foreign mission field. When asked how +he did it, he replied that he wore celluloid collars, +did his own washing, denied himself, and managed his +affairs in order to do it.</p> + +<p>Do you ask, “How can I get such a blessing?” +You will get it by bringing in all the tithes, by +giving yourself in love and obedience and wholehearted, +joyous consecration to Jesus, as a true bride gives +herself to her husband. Do not try to bargain with +the Lord and buy it of Him, but wait on Him in never-give-in +prayer and confident expectation, and He will give +it to you. And then you must not hold it selfishly +for your own gratification, but let it overflow to +the hungry, thirsty, fainting world about you. God +bless you even now, and do for you exceeding abundantly +above all you ask or think!</p> + +<p>A comrade went from one of my meetings recently with +a heart greatly burdened for the blessing, and for +two or three days and nights did little else but read +the Bible, and pray and cry to God for a clean heart +filled with the Spirit. At last the Comforter came, +and with Him fullness of peace and joy and soul-rest, +and that day this comrade led a number of others into +the blessing. Hallelujah! “If ye then, being +evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, +how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the +Holy Spirit to them that ask Him” (Luke xi. 13). +“<i>Ask,... seek,... knock</i>.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter22"></a> +<h1>XXII.</h1> + +<h2>Importance of the Doctrine and Experience of Holiness to Spiritual Leaders</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>A mighty man inspires and trains other men to be mighty. +We wonder and exclaim often at the slaughter of Goliath +by David, and we forget that David was the forerunner +of a race of fearless, invincible warriors and giant-killers.</p> + +<p>If we would in this light but study and remember the +story of David’s mighty men, it would be most +instructive to us.</p> + +<p>Moses inspired a tribe of cowering, toiling, sweat-begrimed, +spiritless slaves to lift up their heads, straighten +their backs, and throw off the yoke; and he led them +forth with songs of victory and shouts of triumph +from under the mailed hand and iron bondage of Pharaoh. +He fired them with a national spirit, and welded and +organised them into a distinct and compact people that +could be hurled with resistless power against the walled +cities and trained warriors of Canaan.</p> + +<p>But what was the secret of David and Moses? Whence +the superiority of these men? David was only a stripling +shepherd-boy when he immortalised himself. What was +his secret? To be sure, Moses was “instructed +in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,” and, doubtless, +had been trained in all the civil, military, and scientific +learning of his day, but he was so weak in himself +that he feared and fled at the first word of questioning +and disparagement that he heard (Exodus ii. 14), and +spent the next forty years feeding sheep for another +man in the rugged wilderness of Sinai. What, then, +was his secret?</p> + +<p>Doubtless, they were men cast in a kinglier mould +than most men; but their secret was not in themselves.</p> + +<p>Joseph Parker declared that great lives are built +on great promises, and so they are. These men had +so far humbled themselves that they found God. They +got close to Him, and He spoke to them. He gave them +promises. He revealed His way and truth to them, and +trusting Him, believing His promises, and fashioning +their lives according to His truth—­His doctrine—­ +everything else followed. They became “workers +together with God,” heroes of faith, leaders +of men, builders of empire, teachers of the race, +and, in an important sense, saviours of mankind.</p> + +<p>Their secret is an open one; it is the secret of every +truly successful spiritual leader from then till now, +and there is no other way to success in spiritual +leadership.</p> + +<p>1. They had an <i>experience</i>. They <i>knew God</i>.</p> + +<p>2. This experience, this acquaintance with God, was +<i>maintained</i> and deepened and broadened in obedience +to God’s teaching, or truth, or doctrine.</p> + +<p>3. They patiently yet urgently <i>taught others</i> +what they themselves had learned, and declared, so +far as they saw it, the whole counsel of God.</p> + +<p>They were abreast of the deepest experiences and fullest +revelations God had yet made to men. They were leaders, +not laggards. They were not in the rear of the procession +of God’s warriors and saints; they were in the +forefront.</p> + +<p>Here we discover the importance of the doctrine and +experience of holiness through the baptism of the +Holy Spirit to Salvation Army leaders. We are to know +God and glorify Him and reveal Him to men. We are +to finish the work of Jesus, and “fill up that +which is behind of the sufferings of Christ” +(Col. i. 24). We are to rescue the slaves of sin, +to make a people, to fashion them into a holy nation, +and inspire and lead them forth to save the world. +How can we do this? Only by being in the forefront +of God’s spiritual hosts; not in name and in +titles only, but in reality; by being in glad possession +of the deepest experiences God gives, and the fullest +revelations He makes to men.</p> + +<p>The astonishing military and naval successes of the +Japanese are said to be due to their profound study, +clear understanding, and firm grasp of the theory, +the principles, the doctrines of war; their careful +and minute preparation of every detail of their campaigns; +the scientific accuracy and precision with which they +carry out all their plans, and their splendid and utter +personal devotion to their cause.</p> + +<p>Our war is far more complex and desperate than theirs, +and its issues are infinitely more far-reaching, and +we must equip ourselves for it; and nothing is so +vital to our cause as a mastery of the doctrine and +an assured and joyous possession of the Pentecostal +experience of holiness through the indwelling Spirit.</p> + +<p>I. <i>The Doctrine.</i>—­What is the teaching +of God’s word about holiness?</p> + +<p>1. If we carefully study God’s word, we find +that He wants His people to be holy, and the making +of a holy people, after the pattern of Jesus, is the +crowning work of the Holy Spirit. He commands us to +“cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the +flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of +the Lord” (2 Cor. vii. 1). It is prayed that +we may “increase and abound in love one toward +another, and toward all men... to the end He may stablish +your hearts unblameable in holiness before God” +(1 Thess. iii. 12, 13). He says: “As He which +hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner +of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy, +for I am holy” (1 Peter i. 15, 16). And in the +most earnest manner we are exhorted to “follow +peace with all men, and holiness, without which no +man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews xii. 14).</p> + +<p>2. As we further study the word, we discover that +holiness is more than simple freedom from condemnation +for wrong-doing. A helpless invalid lying on his bed +of sickness, unable to do anything wrong, may be free +from the condemnation of actual wrong-doing, and yet +it may be in his heart to do all manner of evil. Holiness +on its negative side is a state of heart purity; it +is heart cleanness—­cleanness of thought +and temper and disposition, cleanness of intention +and purpose and wish; it is a state of freedom from +all sin, both inward and outward (Romans vi. 18). +On the positive side it is a state of union with God +in Christ, in which the whole man becomes a temple +of God and filled with the fruit of the Spirit, which +is “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, +goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” It is +moral and spiritual sympathy and harmony with God in +the holiness of His nature.</p> + +<p>We must not, however, confound purity with maturity. +Purity is a matter of the heart, and is secured by +an instantaneous act of the Holy Spirit; maturity +is largely a matter of the head and results from growth +in knowledge and experience. In one, the heart is +made clean, and is filled with love; in the other, +the head is gradually corrected and filled with light, +and so the heart is enlarged and more firmly established +in faith; consequently, the experience deepens and +becomes stronger and more robust in every way. It +is for this reason that we need teachers after we +are sanctified, and to this end we are exhorted to +humbleness of mind.</p> + +<p>Importance of the Doctrine.</p> + +<p>With a heart full of sympathy and love for his father +my little boy may voluntarily go into the garden to +weed the vegetables; but, being yet ignorant, lacking +light in his head, he pulls up my sweet corn with +the grass and weeds. His little heart glows with pleasure +and pride in the thought that he is “helping +papa,” and yet he is doing the very thing I +don’t want him to do. But if I am a wise and +patient father, I shall be pleased with him; for what +is the loss of my few stalks of corn compared to the +expression and development of his love and loyalty? +And I shall commend him for the love and faithful +purpose of his little heart, while I patiently set +to work to enlighten the darkness of his little head. +His heart is pure toward his father, but he is not +yet mature. In this matter of light and maturity holy +people often widely differ, and this causes much perplexity +and needless and unwise anxiety. In the fourteenth +chapter of Romans, Paul discusses and illustrates +the principle underlying this distinction between +purity and maturity.</p> + +<p>3. As we continue to study the word under the illumination +of the Spirit, who is given to lead us into all truth, +we further learn that holiness is not a state which +we reach in conversion. The Apostles were converted, +they had forsaken all to follow Jesus (Matthew xix. +27-29), their names were written in Heaven (Luke x. +20), and yet they were not holy. They doubted and feared, +and again and again were they rebuked for the slowness +and littleness of their faith. They were bigoted, +and wanted to call down fire from Heaven to consume +those who would not receive Jesus (Luke ix. 51-56); +they were frequently contending among themselves as +to which should be the greatest, and when the supreme +test came they all forsook Him and fled. Certainly, +they were not only afflicted with darkness in their +heads, but, far worse, carnality in their hearts; +they were His, and they were very dear to Him, but +they were not yet holy, they were yet impure of heart.</p> + +<p>Paul makes this point very clear in his Epistle to +the Corinthians. He tells them plainly that they were +yet only babes in Christ, because they were carnal +and contentious (I Cor. iii. I). They were in Christ, +they had been converted, but they were not holy.</p> + +<p>It is of great importance that we keep this truth +well in mind that men may be truly converted, may +be babes in Christ, and yet not be pure in heart; +we shall then sympathise more fully with them, and +see the more clearly how to help them and guide their +feet into the way of holiness and peace.</p> + +<p>Those who hold that we are sanctified wholly in conversion +will meet with much to perplex them in their converts, +and are not intelligently equipped to bless and help +God’s little children.</p> + +<p>4. A continued study of God’s teaching on this +subject will clearly reveal to us that purity of heart +is obtained after we are converted. Peter makes this +very plain in his address to the Council in Jerusalem, +where he recounts the outpouring of the Holy Spirit +upon Cornelius and his household. After mentioning +the gift of the Holy Ghost, he adds, “and put +no difference between us and them, purifying their +hearts by faith” (Acts xv. 9). Among other things, +then, the baptism of the Holy Ghost purifies the heart; +but the disciples were converted before they received +this Pentecostal experience, so we see that heart +purity, or holiness, is a work wrought in us after +conversion.</p> + +<p>Again, we notice that Peter says, “purifying +their hearts by faith.” If it is by faith, then +it is not by growth, nor by works, nor by death, nor +by purgatory after death. It is God’s work. +He purifies the heart, and He does it for those, and +only those who, devoting all their possessions and +powers to Him, seek Him by simple, prayerful, obedient, +expectant, unwavering faith through His Son our Saviour.</p> + +<p>Unless we grasp these truths, and hold them firmly, +we shall not be able to “rightly divide the +word of truth,” we shall hardly be “workmen +that need not be ashamed, approved unto God” +(2 Tim. ii. 15). Some one has written that “the +searcher in science knows that if he but stumble in +his hypothesis—­that if he but let himself +be betrayed into prejudice or undue leaning toward +a pet theory, or anything but absolute uprightness +of mind—­his whole work will be stultified +and he will fail ignominiously. To get anywhere in +science he must follow truth with absolute rectitude.”</p> + +<p>THE HOLY SPIRIT.</p> + +<p>And is there not a science of salvation, of holiness, +of eternal life, that requires the same absolute loyalty +to “the Spirit of Truth”? How infinitely +important, then, that we know what that truth is, +that we may understand and hold that doctrine.</p> + +<p>A friend of mine who finished his course with joy, +and was called into the presence of his Lord to receive +his crown some time ago, has pointed out some mistakes +which we must carefully avoid. Here they are:—­</p> + +<p>“It is a great mistake to substitute repentance +for Bible consecration. The people whom Paul exhorted +to full sanctification were those who had turned from +their idols to serve the living and true God, and +to wait for His Son sent down from Heaven (I Thess. +i. 9, 10; iii. 10-13; v. 23).</p> + +<p>“Only people who are citizens of His kingdom +can claim His sanctifying power. Those who still have +idols to renounce may be candidates for conversion, +but not for the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire.</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake in consecration to suppose +that the person making it has anything of his own +to give. We are not our own, but we are bought with +a price, and consecration is simply taking our hands +off from God’s property. To wilfully withhold +anything from God is to be a God-robber.</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake to substitute a mere mental +assent to God’s proprietorship and right to +all we have, while withholding complete devotion to +Him. This is theoretical consecration—­a +rock on which we fear multitudes are being wrecked. +Consecration which does not embrace the crucifixion +of self and the funeral of all false ambitions is +not the kind which will bring the Holy Fire. A consecration +is imperfect which does not embrace the speaking faculty” +(the tongue), “and the believing faculty” +(the heart), “the imagination, and every power +of mind, soul, and body, and give all absolutely and +for ever into the hands of Jesus, turning a deaf ear +to every opposing voice.</p> + +<p>“Reader, have you made such a consecration as +this? It must embrace all this, or it will prove a +bed of quicksand to sink your soul, instead of a full +salvation balloon, which will safely bear you above +the fog and malaria and turmoil of the world, where +you can triumphantly sing:</p> + +<p> “’I rise to float in realms +of light,<br> + Above the world and +sin.<br> + With heart made pure and garments +white,<br> + And Christ enthroned +within.’</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake to teach seekers to ‘only +believe,’ without complete abandonment to God +at every point, for they can no more do it than an +anchored ship can sail.</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake to substitute mere verbal assent +for obedient trust. ‘Only believe’ is +a fatal snare to all who fall into these traps.</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake to believe that the altar sanctifies +the gift without the assurance that all is on the +altar. If even the end of your tongue, or one cent +of your money, or a straw’s weight of false +ambition, or spirit of dictation, or one ounce of your +reputation, or will, or believing powers be left off +the altar, you can no more believe than a bird without +wings can fly.</p> + +<p>“‘Only believe’ is only for those +seekers of holiness who are truly converted, fully +consecrated, and crucified to everything but the whole +will of God. Teachers who apply this to people who +have not yet reached these stations need themselves +to be taught. All who have reached them may believe, +and if they do believe, may look God in the face, +and triumphantly sing:</p> + +<p> “’The blood, the blood is +all my plea,<br> + Hallelujah, for it cleanseth me.’”</p> + +<p>II. <i>The Experience</i>.—­Simply to be +skilled in the doctrine is not sufficient for us as +leaders. We may be as orthodox as St. Paul himself, +and yet be only as “sounding brass and clanging +cymbals,” unless we are rooted in the blessed +experience of holiness. If we would save ourselves +and them that follow us, if we would make havoc of +the Devil’s kingdom and build up God’s +kingdom, we must not only know and preach the truth, +but we must be living examples of the saving and sanctifying +power of the truth. We are to be “living epistles, +known and read of all men”; we must be able +to say with Paul, “follow me as I follow Christ”; +and “those things which ye learned and received +and heard and saw in me, do; and the God of peace +shall be with you.”</p> + +<p>We must not forget that—­</p> + +<p>1. We are ourselves simple Christians, individual +souls struggling for eternal life and liberty, and +we must by all means save ourselves. To this end we +must be holy, else we shall at last experience the +awful woe of those who, having preached to others, +are yet themselves castaways.</p> + +<p>2. We are leaders upon whom multitudes depend. It +is a joy and an honour to be a leader, but it is also +a grave responsibility. James says: “We shall +receive the heavier judgment” (James iii. i, +R.V.). How unspeakable shall be our blessedness, and +how vast our reward, if, wise in the doctrine, and +rich and strong and clean in the experience of holiness, +we lead our people into their full heritage in Jesus! +But how terrible shall be our condemnation, and how +great our loss, if, in spiritual slothfulness and +unbelief, we stop short of the experience ourselves +and leave them to perish for want of the gushing waters +and heavenly food and Divine direction we should have +brought them! We need the experience for ourselves, +and we need it for our work and for our people.</p> + +<p>What the roof is to a house, that the doctrine is +to our system of truth. It completes it. What sound +and robust health is to our bodies, that the experience +is to our souls. It makes us every whit whole, and +fits us for all duty. Sweep away the doctrine, and +the experience will soon be lost. Lose the experience, +and the doctrine will surely be neglected, if not +attacked and denied. No man can have the heart, even +if he has the head, to fully and faithfully and constantly +preach the doctrine unless he has the experience.</p> + +<p>Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and as +this doctrine deals with the deepest things of the +Spirit, it is only clearly understood and is best +recommended, explained, defended, and enforced by +those who have the experience.</p> + +<p>Without the experience, the presentation of the doctrine +will be faulty and cold and lifeless, or weak and +vacillating, or harsh and sharp and severe. With the +experience, the preaching of the doctrine will be +with great joy and assurance, and will be strong and +searching, but at the same time warm and persuasive +and tender.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the shock of mingled surprise +and amusement and grief with which I heard a Captain +loudly announce in one of my meetings many years ago +that he was “going to preach holiness now,” +and his people “have to get it,” if he +had to “ram it down their throats.” Poor +fellow! He did not possess the experience himself, +and never pressed into it and soon forsook his people.</p> + +<p>A man in the clear experience of the blessing will +never think of “ramming” it down people; +but will, with much secret prayer, constant meditation +and study, patient instruction, faithful warning, +loving persuasion, and burning, joyful testimony, seek +to lead them into that entire and glad consecration +and that fullness of faith that never fail to receive +the blessing.</p> + +<p>Again, the most accurate and complete knowledge of +the doctrine, and the fullest possession of the experience, +will fail us at last unless we carefully guard ourselves +at several points, and unless we watch and pray.</p> + +<p>3. We must not judge ourselves so much by our feelings +as by our volitions. It is not my feelings, but the +purpose of my heart, the attitude of my will, that +God looks at, and it is that to which I must look. +“If our heart condemns us not, then have we +confidence toward God.” A friend of mine who +had firmly grasped this thought, and walked continually +with God, used to testify: “I am just as good +when I don’t feel good as when I do feel good.” +Another mighty man of God said that all the feeling +he needed to enable him to trust God was the consciousness +that he was fully submitted to all the known will +of God.</p> + +<p>We must not forget that the Devil is “the accuser +of the brethren” (Rev. xii. 10), and that he +seeks to turn our eyes away from Jesus, who is our +Surety and our Advocate, to ourselves, our feelings, +our infirmities, our failures; and if he succeeds in +this, gloom will fill us, doubts and fears will spring +up within us, and we shall soon fail and fall. We +must be wise as the conies, and build our nest in +the cleft of the Rock of Ages. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>4. We must not divorce conduct from character, or +works from faith. Our lives must square with our teaching. +We must live what we preach. We must not suppose that +faith in Jesus excuses us from patient, faithful, +laborious service. We must “live by every word +that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”; that +is, we must fashion our lives, our conduct, our conversation +by the principles laid down in His word, remembering +His searching saying, “Not every one that saith +unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom +of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father +which is in Heaven.”</p> + +<p>This subject of faith and works is very fully discussed +by James (chap. ii. 14-26), and Paul is very clear +in his teaching that, while God saves us not by our +works, but by His mercy through faith, yet it is that +we may “maintain good work” (Titus iii. +14); and “we are His workmanship, created in +Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before +ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. +ii. 8-10).</p> + +<p>Faith must “work by love,” and emotion +must be transmitted into action, and joy must lead +to work, and love to faithful, self-sacrificing service, +else they become a kind of pleasant and respectable, +but none the less deadly, debauchery, and at last +ruin us.</p> + +<p>5. However blessed and satisfactory our present experience +may be, we must not rest in it, but remember that +our Lord has yet many things to say unto us, as we +are able to receive them. We must stir up the gift +of God that is in us, and say with Paul, “One +thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, +and stretching forward” (as a racer) “to +the things which are before, I press on toward the +goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in +Christ Jesus” (Phil. iii. 13, 14, R.V.). It is +at this point that many fail. They seek the Lord, +they weep and struggle and pray, and then they believe; +but, instead of pressing on, they sit down to enjoy +the blessing, and, lo! it is not. The children of +Israel must needs follow the pillar of cloud and fire. +It made no difference when it moved—­by day +or by night, they followed; and when the Comforter +comes we must follow, if we would abide in Him and +be filled with all the fullness of God. And, Oh, the +joy of following Him!</p> + +<p>Finally, if we have the blessing—­not the +harsh, narrow, unprogressive exclusiveness which often +calls itself by the sweet, heavenly term of holiness, +but the vigorous, courageous, self-sacrificing, tender, +Pentecostal experience of perfect love —­we +shall both save ourselves and enlighten the world, +our converts will be strong, our Candidates for the +work will multiply, and will be able, dare-devil men +and women, and our people will come to be like the +brethren of Gideon, of whom it was said, “Each +one resembled the children of a king.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter23"></a> +<h1>XXIII.</h1> + +<h2>Victory Over Evil Temper by the Power of the Holy Spirit</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Two letters recently reached me, one from Oregon, +and one from Massachusetts, inquiring if I thought +it possible to have temper destroyed. The comrade +from Oregon wrote: “I have been wondering if +the statement is correct when one says, ’My temper +is all taken away.’ Do you think the temper +is destroyed or sanctified? It seems to me that if +one’s temper were actually gone he would not +be good for anything.”</p> + +<p>The comrade from Massachusetts wrote: “Two of +our Corps Cadets have had the question put to them: +’Is it possible to have all temper taken out +of our hearts?’ One claims it is possible. The +other holds that the temper is not taken out, but God +gives power to overcome it.”</p> + +<p>Evidently these are questions that perplex many people, +and yet the answer seems to me simple.</p> + +<p>Temper, <i>as usually spoken of</i>, is not a faculty +or power of the soul, but is rather an irregular, +passionate, violent expression of selfishness. When +selfishness is destroyed by love, by the incoming +of the Holy Spirit, revealing Jesus to us as an uttermost +Saviour, and creating within us a clean heart, of +course such evil temper is gone, just as the friction +and consequent wear and heat of two wheels is gone +when the cogs are perfectly adjusted to each other. +The wheels are far better off without friction, and +just so man is far better off without such temper.</p> + +<p>We do not destroy the wheels to get rid of the friction, +but we readjust them; that is, we put them into just +or right relations to each other, and then noiselessly +and perfectly they do their work. So, strictly speaking, +sanctification does not destroy self, but it destroys +selfishness—­the abnormal and mean and dis-ordered +manifestation and assertion of self. I myself am to +be sanctified, rectified, purified, brought into harmony +with God’s will as revealed in His word, and +united to Him in Jesus, so that His life of holiness +and love flows continually through all the avenues +of my being, as the sap of the vine flows through all +parts of the branch. “I am the Vine, ye are the +branches,” said Jesus.</p> + +<p>When a man is thus filled with the Holy Spirit he +is not made into a putty man, a jelly fish, with all +powers of resistance taken out of him; he does not +have any less force and “push” and “go” +than before, but rather more, for all his natural energy +is now reinforced by the Holy Spirit, and turned into +channels of love and peace instead of hate and strife.</p> + +<p>He may still feel indignation in the presence of wrong, +but it will not be rash, violent, explosive, and selfish, +as before he was sanctified, but calm and orderly, +and holy, and determined, like that of God. It will +be the wholesome, natural antagonism of holiness and +righteousness to all unrighteousness and evil.</p> + +<p>Such a man will feel it when he is wronged, but it +will be much in the same way that he feels when others +are wronged. The personal, selfish element will be +absent. At the same time there will be pity and compassion +and yearning love for the wrong-doer and a greater +desire to see him saved than to see him punished.</p> + +<p>A sanctified man was walking down the street the other +day with his wife, when a filthy fellow on a passing +wagon insulted her with foul words. Instantly the +temptation came to the man to want to get hold of +him and punish him, but as instantly the indwelling +Comforter whispered, “If ye will forgive men +their trespasses;” and instantly the clean heart +of the man responded, “I will, I do forgive +him, Lord;” and instead of anger a great love +filled his soul, and instead of hurling a brick or +hot words at the poor Devil-deceived sinner, he sent +a prayer to God in Heaven for him. There was no friction +in his soul. He was perfectly adjusted to his Lord; +his heart was perfectly responsive to his Master’s +word, and he could rightly say, “My temper is +gone.”</p> + +<p>A man must have his spiritual eyes wide open to discern +the difference between sinful temper and righteous +indignation.</p> + +<p>Many a man wrongs and robs himself by calling his +fits of temper “righteous indignation;” +while, on the other hand, there is here and there +a timid soul who is so afraid of sinning through temper +as to suppress the wholesome antagonism that righteousness, +to be healthy and perfect, must express towards all +unrighteousness and sin.</p> + +<p>It takes the keen-edged word of God, applied by the +Holy Spirit, to cut away unholy temper without destroying +righteous antagonism; to enable a man to hate and +fight sin with spiritual weapons (2 Cor. x. 3-5), +while pitying and loving the sinner; to so fill him +with the mind of Jesus that he will feel as badly over +a wrong done to a stranger as though it were done +to himself; to help him to put away the personal feeling +and be as calm and unselfish and judicial in opposing +wrong as is the judge upon the bench. Into this state +of heart and mind is one brought who is entirely sanctified +by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>Dr. Asa Mahan, the friend and co-worker of Finney, +had a quick and violent temper in his youth and young +manhood; but one day he believed, and God sanctified +him, and for fifty years he said he never felt but +one uprising of temper, and that was but for an instant, +about five years after he received the blessing. For +the following forty-five years, though subjected to +many trials and provocations, he felt only love and +peace and patience and good-will in his heart.</p> + +<p>A Christian woman was confined to her bed for years +with nervous and other troubles, and was very cross +and touchy and petulant. At last she became convinced +that the Lord had a better experience for her, and +she began to pray for a clean heart full of patient, +holy, humble love; and she prayed so earnestly, so +violently, that her family became alarmed lest she +should wear her poor, frail body out in her struggle +for spiritual freedom. But she told them she was determined +to have the blessing, if it cost her her life, and +so she continued to pray, until one glad, sweet day +the Comforter came; her heart was purified, and from +that day forth, in spite of the fact that she was still +a nervous invalid, suffering constant pain, she never +showed the least sign of temper or impatience, but +was full of meekness, and patient, joyous thankfulness.</p> + +<p> “Love took up the harp of life, +and smote on all<br> + the chords with might—­<br> + Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, +passed in<br> + music out of sight.”</p> + +<p>Such is the experience of one in whom Jesus lives +without a rival, and in whom grace has wrought its +perfect work.</p> + +<p>“No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed +of gold, not drunkenness itself, does more to un-Christianise +society than evil temper,” says a distinguished +and thoughtful writer.</p> + +<p>If this be true, it must be God’s will that +we be saved from it. And it is provided for in the +uttermost salvation that Jesus offers.</p> + +<p>Do you want this blessing, my brother, my sister? +If so, be sure of this: God has not begotten such +a desire in your heart to mock you; you may have it. +God is able to do even this for you. With man it is +impossible, but not with God. Look at Him just now +for it. It is His work, His gift. Look at your past +failures, and acknowledge them; look at your present +and future difficulties, count them up and face them +every one, and admit that they are more than you can +hope to conquer; but then look at the dying Son of +God, your Saviour—­the Man with the seamless +robe, the crown of thorns, and the nail-prints; look +at the fountain of His Blood; look at His word; look +at the Almighty Holy Ghost, who will dwell within +you, if you but trust and obey, and cry out: “It +shall be done! The mountain shall become a plain; the +impossible shall become possible. Hallelujah!” +Quietly, intelligently, abandon yourself to the Holy +Spirit just now in simple, glad, obedient faith, and +the blessing shall be yours. Glory to God!</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's When the Holy Ghost is Come, by S. L. Brengle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME *** + +***** This file should be named 6135-h.htm or 6135-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/3/6135/ + +Produced by Curtis A. 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Brengle + +Posting Date: September 22, 2012 [EBook #6135] +Release Date: July, 2004 +First Posted: November 17, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME. + +BY + +COLONEL S. L. BRENGLE, + + +Edited by BRAMWELL BOOTH. + + + + +FOREWORD. + +The Salvation Army, contrary to what has often been thought by +surface observers, has owed its existence, its strength, and its +success chiefly to our careful attention to the profoundest +questions of the soul. + +And still, as always, we wish to urge upon all the study of those +great practical truths, without the proclamation of which our +work for men would cease to have any abiding value. We glory in +the knowledge of Christ as a perfect Saviour just as much for +this, our own time, as for any past generation, or for any +generation yet to come. The pretence that this age has reached +some superior development, whether mental or moral, for which a +new kind of Saviour is needed, seems to us absurd. And we do not +believe it can long endure where Christ is really known. + +To the most thoughtful, therefore, as well as to those who have +the least time for thought, I earnestly commend the words of +devout and practical men upon those great questions, which I hope +to see reproduced in the series of which the present volume is +the first. Prayerful reading of their messages cannot but lead to +immediate action, to a complete self-abandonment to God, and to a +realizing faith in His power to use every one of His sons and +daughters for the healing of the world's open sores and the +triumph of His Rule. + +BRAMWELL BOOTH. LONDON, January, 1909. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PREFACE + +I. WHO IS HE? +II. PREPARING HIS HOUSE III. IS THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY + SPIRIT A THIRD BLESSING? +IV. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT +V. PURITY +VI. POWER +VII. TRYING THE SPIRITS +VIII. GUIDANCE +IX. THE MEEK AND LOWLY HEART +X. HOPE +XI. THE HOLY SPIRIT'S SUBSTITUTE FOR GOSSIP AND EVIL-SPEAKING +XII. THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST +XIII. OFFENCES AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST +XIV. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SOUND DOCTRINE +XV. PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT +XVI. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANOINTED PREACHER +XVII. PREACHING +XIX. THE SHEATHED SWORD: A LAW OF THE SPIRIT +XX. VICTORY THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT OVER SUFFERING +XXI. THE OVERFLOWING BLESSING +XXII. IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE OF HOLINESS TO + SPIRITUAL LEADERS +XXIII. VICTORY OVER EVIL TEMPER BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT + + + + +PREFACE. + + +It is no small pleasure to me to commend this book to all who +love God, and in particular to those who are labouring to serve +Him in the ranks of The Salvation Army. I believe that it will +prove useful in the most important ways--in its bearing, that +is, upon many of the practical difficulties and problems of daily +life. + +The writer, Colonel Brengle, gives us not only of the fruit of an +orderly and well-stored mind on the great subject before us, +but--and this is the more important--he tells us of the actual work +of the Holy Spirit in the lives of ordinary men and women, as he +has witnessed the results of that work amidst his many labours +for the Salvation and Holiness of the people. It is for them he +writes. It is to them, living the common life, bound to others by +the obligations of ordinary social intercourse, toiling at their +secular occupations, and rubbing shoulders with the multitude in +the market-place, that his message comes. I venture to hope that +his words will make it plain to some of them that the highest +intercourse with the Divine is their privilege; that the special +province of the Holy Ghost is to lead men into the truest +devotion to God, and to the advancement of His Kingdom on earth, +even while they are carrying on the common avocations associated +with earning their daily bread. + +The only purpose of God having a practical bearing on our lives +is His purpose to save men from sin and its awful consequences, +and make them conform to His will in this world as in the next. +The work of the Holy Spirit is to help us to achieve that +purpose. Without His help we are unable to overcome the +difficulties that are in the way, whether we consider them from +the standpoint of the world or of the individual. If anyone could +have looked at the state of the world at the time of our Lord's +death he would surely have regarded the work which the Apostles +were commissioned to attempt as the most utterly wild and +impracticable enterprise that the human mind could conceive. And +it was so, but for one fact. That fact was the promise of the +Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be the great Helper in the +undertaking. + +And equally in the work of uniting the individual soul with God's +purpose that Spirit is our Helper. In the work of righteousness +He is a Partner with us. In the life of faith and prayer He is +our unwavering Prompter and Guide. In the submission of our wills +to God and the chastening of our spirits He is the great Co-worker +with us. In the bearing of burdens and the enduring of trial and +sorrow He joins hands with us to lead us on. In the purifying of +every power from the taint of sin He is our Sanctifier. + +All this is practical. It has to do with to-day--with every bit +of to-day. In fact, so far from the sphere of the Holy Spirit +being limited to the pulpit or the platform, or to the inward +experiences of the religious life, He is just as truly and +properly concerned with the affairs of the shop and the street, +the nursery and the kitchen, the chamber of suffering and the +home of penury, as with preaching the Gospel or healing the sick. + +Now it is to lead its readers to a personal experience of all +this that this book has been written. No mere intellectual assent +to the truth it sets forth can satisfy its author, any more than +it can benefit his readers. What he seeks, and what I join him in +devoutly asking of God, is that you, dear friend, who may take +this little volume into your hands, may see what an infinite +privilege is yours, and may begin to act with God the Holy Ghost, +and to open your whole being to Him, that He may work with you. + +BRAMWELL BOOTH. +LONDON, January, 1909. + + + + +I. + +WHO IS HE? + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +On that last eventful evening in the upper room, just after the +Passover feast, Jesus spoke to His disciples about His departure, +and, having commanded them to love one another, He besought them +not to be troubled in heart, but to hold fast their faith in Him, +assuring them that, though He was to die and leave them, He was +but going to the Father's many-mansioned house to prepare a place +for them. + +But already they were troubled, for what could this death and +departure mean but the destruction of all their hopes, of all +their cherished plans? Jesus had drawn them away from their +fishing-boats, their places of custom and daily employment, and +inspired them with high personal and patriotic ambitions, and +encouraged them to believe that He was the Seed of David, the +promised Messiah; and they hoped that He would cast out Pilate +and his hated Roman garrison, restore the kingdom to Israel, and +sit on David's throne, a King, reigning in righteousness and +undisputed power and majesty for ever. And then, were they not to +be His Ministers of State and chief men in His Kingdom? + +He was their Leader, directing their labours; their Teacher, +instructing their ignorance and solving their doubts and all +their puzzling problems; their Defence, stilling the stormy sea +and answering for them when questioned by wise and wily enemies. + +They were poor and unlearned and weak. In Him was all their help, +and what would they do, what could they do, without Him? They +were without social standing, without financial prestige, without +learning or intellectual equipment, without political or military +power. He was their All, and without Him they were as helpless as +little children, as defenceless as lambs in the midst of wolves. +How could their poor hearts be otherwise than troubled? + +But then He gave them a strange, wonderful, reassuring promise: +He said, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray +the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may +abide with you for ever" (John xiv. 15, 16). I am going away, but +Another shall come, who will fill My place. He shall not go away, +but abide with you for ever, and He "shall be in you." And later +He added: "It is expedient for you"--that is, better for you--"that +I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come." + +Who is this other One--this Comforter? He must be some august +Divine Person, and not a mere influence or impersonal force, for +how else could He take and fill the place of Jesus? How else +could it be said that it was better to have Him than to have +Jesus remaining in the flesh? He must be strong and wise, and +tender and true, to take the place of the Blessed One who is to +die and depart. Who is He? + +John, writing in the Greek language, calls Him "Paraclete," but +we in English call Him Comforter. But Paraclete means more, much +more than Comforter. It means "one called in to help: an +advocate, a helper." The same word is used of Jesus in i John ii. +i: "We have an Advocate," a Paraclete, a Helper, "with the +Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Just as Jesus had gone to be +the disciples' Advocate, their Helper in the Heavens, so this +other Paraclete was to be their Advocate, their Helper on earth. +He would be their Comforter when comfort was needed; but He would +be more; He would be also their Teacher, Guide, Strengthener, as +Jesus had been. At every point of need there would He be as an +ever-present and all-wise, almighty Helper. He would meet their +need with His sufficiency; their weakness with His strength; +their foolishness with His wisdom; their ignorance with His +knowledge; their blindness and short-sightedness with His +perfect, all-embracing vision. Hallelujah! What a Comforter! Why +should they be troubled? + +They were weak, but He would strengthen them with might in the +inner man (Eph. iii. 16). They were to give the world the words +of Jesus, and teach all nations (Matthew xxviii. 19, 20); and He +would teach them all things, and bring to their remembrance +whatsoever Jesus had said to them (John xiv. 26). + +They were to guide their converts in the right way, and He was to +guide them into all truth (John xvi. 13). They were to attack +hoary systems of evil, and inbred and actively intrenched sin, in +every human heart; but He was to go before them, preparing the +way for conquest, by convincing the world of sin, of righteousness, +and of judgment (John xvi. 8). They were to bear heavy burdens and +face superhuman tasks, but He was to give them power (Acts i. 8). +Indeed, He was to be a Comforter, a Strengthener, a Helper. + +Jesus had been external to them. Often they missed Him. Sometimes +He was asleep when they felt they sorely needed Him. Sometimes He +was on the mountains, while they were in the valley vainly trying +to cast out stubborn devils, or wearily toiling on the tumultuous, +wind-tossed sea. Sometimes He was surrounded by vast crowds, and +He entered into high disputes with the doctors of the law, and +they had to wait till He was alone to seek explanations of His +teachings. But they were never to lose this other Helper in the +crowd, nor be separated for an instant from Him, for no human +being, nor untoward circumstance, nor physical necessity, could +ever come between Him and them, for, said Jesus, "He shall be in +you." + +From the words used to declare the sayings, the doings, the +offices and works of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, we are +forced to conclude that He is a Divine Person. Out of the +multitude of Scriptures which might be quoted, note this passage, +which, as nearly as is possible with human language, reveals to +us His personality: "Now there were in the Church that was at +Antioch certain prophets and teachers... As they ministered to +the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas +and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they +had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent +them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed +into Seleucia" (Acts xiii. 1-4). + +Further on we read that they "were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to +preach the word in Asia"; and when they would have gone into +Bithynia, "the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts xvi. 6, 7). + +Again, when the messengers of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, +were seeking Peter, "the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men +seek thee. Arise, therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, +doubting nothing: for I have sent them" (Acts x. 19, 20). + +These are but a few of the passages of Scripture that might be +quoted to establish the fact of His personality--His power to +think, to will, to act, to speak; and if His personality is not +made plain in these Scriptures, then it is impossible for human +language to make it so. + +Indeed, I am persuaded that if an intelligent heathen, who had +never seen the Bible, should for the first time read the four +Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, he would say that the +personality of the Holy Spirit is as clearly revealed in the Acts +as is the personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. In truth, +the Acts of the Apostles are in a large measure the acts of the +Holy Spirit, and the disciples were not more certainly under the +immediate direction of Jesus during the three years of His +earthly ministry than they were under the direct leadership of +the Spirit after Pentecost. + +But, while there are those that admit His personality, yet in +their loyalty to the Divine Unity they deny the Trinity, and +maintain that the Holy Spirit is only the Father manifesting +Himself as Spirit, without any distinction in personality. But +this view cannot be harmonised with certain Scriptures. While the +Bible and reason plainly declare that there is but one God, yet +the Scriptures as clearly reveal that there are three Persons in +the Godhead--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. + +The form of Paul's benediction to the Corinthians proves the +doctrine:-- + +"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the +communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (2 Cor. xiii. +14). + +Again, it is taught in the promise of Jesus, already quoted, "And +I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter... +the Spirit of Truth" (John xiv. 16, 17). Here the three Persons of +the Godhead are clearly revealed. The Son prays; the Father +answers; the Spirit comes. + +The Holy Spirit is "another Comforter," a second Comforter +succeeding the first, who was Jesus, and both were given by the +Father. + +Do you say, "I cannot understand it"? Neither do I. Who can +understand it? God does not expect us to understand it. Nor would +He have us puzzle our heads and trouble our hearts in attempting +to understand it or harmonise it with our knowledge of arithmetic. + +Note this: it is only the _fact_ that is revealed; +_how_ there can be three Persons in one Godhead is not +revealed. + +The _how_ is a mystery, and is not a matter of faith at all; +but the _fact_ is a matter of revelation, and therefore a +matter of faith. I myself am a mysterious trinity of body, mind, +and spirit. The fact I believe, but the _how_ is not a thing +to believe. It is at this point that many puzzle and perplex +themselves needlessly. + +In the ordinary affairs of life we grasp facts, and hold them +fast, without puzzling ourselves over the _how_ of things. +Who can explain _how_ food sustains life; how light reveals +material objects, how sound conveys ideas to our minds? It is the +fact we know and believe, but the _how_ we pass by as a +mystery unrevealed. What God has revealed, we believe. We cannot +understand _how_ Jesus turned water into wine; _how_ He +multiplied a few loaves and fishes and fed thousands; _how_ +He stilled the stormy sea; _how_ He opened blind eyes, healed +lepers, and raised the dead by a word. But the facts we believe. +Wireless telegraphic messages are sent over the vast wastes of +ocean. That is a fact, and we believe it. But _how_ they go we +do not know. That is not something to believe. It is a matter of +pure speculation, and is unexplained. + +An old servant of God has pointed out that it is the fact of the +Trinity, and not the _manner_ of it, which God has revealed, +and made a subject for our faith. + +But while the Scriptures reveal to us the fact of the personality +of the Holy Spirit, and it is a subject for our faith, to those +in whom He dwells this fact may become a matter of sacred +knowledge, of blessed experience. + +How else can we account for the positive and assured way in which +the Apostles and disciples spoke of the Holy Ghost on and after +the day of Pentecost, if they did not know Him? Immediately after +the fiery baptism, with its blessed filling, Peter stood before +the people, and said: "This is that which was spoken by the +prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith +God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh"; then he exhorted +the people and assured them that if they would meet certain +simple conditions they should "receive the gift of the Holy +Ghost." He said to Ananias, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to +lie to the Holy Ghost?" He declared to the High Priest and +Council that he and his fellow-Apostles were witnesses of the +resurrection of Jesus: and added, "And so is also the Holy Ghost, +whom God hath given to them that obey Him." Without any apology +or explanation, or "think so" or "hope so," they speak of being +"filled" (not simply with some new, strange experience or +emotion, but) "with the Holy Ghost." Certainly they must have +known Him. And if they knew Him, may not we? + +Paul says: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, +but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things +that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, +not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy +Ghost teacheth" (I Cor. ii. 12, 13). And if we know the words, +may we not know the Teacher of the words? + +John Wesley says:-- + +"The knowledge of the Three-One God is interwoven with all true +Christian faith, with all vital religion. I do not say," he adds, +"that every real Christian can say, with the Marquis de Renty, 'I +bear about with me continually an experimental verity, and a +fullness of the ever-blessed Trinity. I apprehend that this is +not the experience of "babes," but rather "fathers in Christ."' +But I know not how anyone can be a Christian believer till he +'hath the witness in himself,' till 'the Spirit of God witnesses +with his spirit that he is a child of God'; that is, in effect, +till God the Holy Ghost witnesses that God the Father has +accepted him through the merits of God the Son. + +"Not that every Christian believer adverts to this; perhaps, at +first, not one in twenty; but, if you ask them a few questions, +you will easily find it is implied in what he believes." + +I shall never forget my joy, mingled with awe and wonder, when +this dawned upon my consciousness. For several weeks I had been +searching the Scriptures, ransacking my heart, humbling my soul, +and crying to God almost day and night for a pure heart and the +baptism with the Holy Ghost, when one glad, sweet day (it was +January 9th, 1885) this text suddenly opened to my understanding: +"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us +our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"; and I was +enabled to believe without any doubt that the precious blood +cleansed my heart, even mine, from all sin. Shortly after that, +while reading these words of Jesus to Martha: "I am the +resurrection and the life; he that believeth on Me, though he +were dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth on +Me shall never die," instantly my heart was melted like wax +before fire; Jesus Christ was revealed to my spiritual consciousness, +revealed in me, and my soul was filled with unutterable love. I +walked in a heaven of love. Then one day, with amazement, +I said to a friend: "This is the perfect love about which the +Apostle John wrote; but it is beyond all I dreamed of; in it is +personality; this love thinks, wills, talks with me, corrects me, +instructs and teaches me." And then I knew that God the +Holy Ghost was in this love, and that this love was God, for +"God is love." + +Oh, the rapture mingled with reverential, holy fear--for it is a +rapturous, yet divinely fearful thing--to be indwelt by the Holy +Ghost, to be a temple of the Living God! Great heights are always +opposite great depths, and from the heights of this blessed +experience many have plunged into the dark depths of fanaticism. +But we must not draw back from the experience through fear. All +danger will be avoided by meekness and lowliness of heart; by +humble, faithful service; by esteeming others better than +ourselves, and in honour preferring them before ourselves; by +keeping an open, teachable spirit; in a word, by looking steadily +unto Jesus, to whom the Holy Spirit continually points us: for He +would not have us fix our attention exclusively upon Himself and +His work _in_ us, but also upon the Crucified One and His +work _for_ us, that we may walk in the steps of Him whose +blood purchases our pardon, and makes and keeps us clean. + + "Great Paraclete! to Thee we cry: + O highest Gift of God most high! + O Fount of life! O Fire of love! + And sweet Anointing from above! + + "Our senses touch with light and fire; + Our hearts with tender love inspire; + And with endurance from on high + The weakness of our flesh supply. + + "Far back our enemy repel, + And let Thy peace within us dwell; + So may we, having Thee for Guide, + Turn from each hurtful thing aside. + + "Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow + The Father and the Son to know, + And evermore to hold confessed + Thyself of Each the Spirit blest." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +II. + +PREPARING HIS HOUSE. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +JESUS said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be +born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom +of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which +is born of the Spirit is spirit." And Paul wrote to the Romans +that, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of +His." + +So it must be that every child of God, every truly converted +person, has the Holy Spirit in some gracious manner and measure, +else he would not be a child of God; for it is only "as many as +are led by the Spirit of God" that "are the sons of God." + +It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin, who makes us feel +how good and righteous, and just and patient God is, and how +guilty we are, and how unfit for Heaven, and how near to Hell. It +is the Holy Spirit who leads us to true repentance and confession +and amendment of life; and when our repentance is complete, and +our surrender is unconditional, it is He who reasons with us, and +calms our fears, and soothes our troubled hearts, and banishes +our darkness, and enables us to look to Jesus, and believe on Him +for the forgiveness of all our sins and the salvation of our +souls. And when we yield and trust, and are accepted of the Lord, +and are saved by grace, it is He who assures us of the Father's +favour, and notifies us that we are saved. "The Spirit Himself +beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." +He is "the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." + + "And His that gentle voice we hear, + Soft as the breath of even; + That checks each thought, that calms each fear, + And speaks of Heaven." + + It is He who strengthens the new convert + to fight against and overcome sin, and it is + He who "begets within him a hope of fuller + righteousness through faith in Christ." + + "And every virtue we possess, + And every victory won, + And every thought of holiness, + Are His alone." + +Blessed be God for this work of the Holy Spirit within the heart +of every true child of His! + +But, great and gracious as is this work, it is not the fiery +pentecostal baptism with the Spirit which is promised; it is not +the fullness of the Holy Ghost to which we are exhorted. It is +only the clear dawn of the day, and not the rising of the day-star. +This is only the initial work of the Spirit. It is perfect of +its kind, but it is preparatory to another and fuller work, +about which I wish to write. + +Jesus said to His disciples, concerning the Holy Spirit, that +"the world" (the unsaved, unrepentant) "cannot receive" Him, +"because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him"; because they +resist Him, and will not permit Him to work in their hearts. And +then Jesus added, "but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you...." +He had begun His work in them, but there was more to follow, for +Jesus said, "and shall be in you." + +When a man is building himself a house, he is in and out of it +and round about it. But we do not say he lives in it until it has +been completed. And it is in that sense that Jesus said, "He +dwelleth with you." But when the house is finished, the owner +sweeps out all the chips and saw-dust, scrubs the floor, lays +down his carpets, hangs up his pictures, arranges his furniture, +and moves in with his family. Then he is in the fullest sense +within it. He abides there. Now, it is in that sense that Jesus +meant that the Holy Spirit should be in them. This is fitly +expressed in one of our songs:-- + + "Holy Spirit, come, Oh, come! + Let Thy work in me be done! + All that hinders shall be thrown aside; + Make me fit to be Thy dwelling." + +Previous to Pentecost He was with them, using the searching +preaching of John the Baptist, and the life, the words, the +example, the sufferings, and the death and resurrection of Jesus +as instruments with which to fashion their hearts for His +indwelling. As the truth was declared to them in the words of +Jesus, pictured to them in His doings, exemplified in His daily +life, and fulfilled in His death and His rising from the dead, +the Holy Spirit wrought mightily within them; but He could not +yet find perfect rest in their hearts; therefore He did not yet +abide within them. + +They had forsaken all to follow Christ. They had been +commissioned to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick, to cleanse +the lepers, to raise the dead, to cast out devils. Their names +were written in Heaven. They were not of the world, even as Jesus +was not of the world, for they belonged to Him and to the Father. +They knew the Holy Spirit, for He was with them, working in them, +but not yet living in them, for they were yet carnal; that is, +they were selfish, each seeking the best place for himself. They +disputed among themselves as to which should be the greatest. +They were bigoted, wanting to call down fire from Heaven to +consume those who would not receive Jesus, and forbidding those +who would not follow them to cast out devils in His name. They +were positive and loud in their professions of devotion and +loyalty to Jesus when alone with Him. They declared they would +die with Him. But they were fearful, timid, and false to Him when +the testing time came. When the mocking crowd appeared, and +danger was near, they all forsook Him, and fled; while Peter +cursed and swore, and denied that he knew Him. + +But the Holy Spirit did not forsake them. He still wrought within +them, and, no doubt, used their very mistakes and miserable +failures to perfect within them the spirit of humility and +perfect self-abasement in order that they might safely be +exalted. And on the day of Pentecost His work of preparation was +complete, and He moved in to abide for ever. Hallelujah! + +And this experience of theirs before Pentecost is the common +experience of all true converts. Every child of God knows that +the Holy Spirit is with him; realises that He is working within, +striving to set the house in order. And with many who are +properly taught and gladly obedient, this work is done quickly, +and the heavenly Dove, the Blessed One, takes up his constant +abode within them; the toil and strife with inbred sin is ended +by its destruction, and they enter at once into the sabbath of +full salvation. + +Surely this is possible. The disciples could not receive the Holy +Spirit till Jesus was glorified; because not until then was the +foundation for perfect, intelligent, unwavering faith laid. But +since the day of Pentecost, He may be received immediately by +those who have repented of all sin, who have believed on Jesus, +and been born again. Some have assured me that they were +sanctified wholly and filled with the Spirit within a few hours +of their conversion. I have no doubt that this was so with many +of the three thousand who were converted under Peter's preaching +on the day of Pentecost. + +But often this work is slow, for He can only work effectually as +we work with Him, practising intelligent and obedient faith. Some +days the work prospers and seems almost complete, and then peace +and joy and comfort abound in the heart; at other times the work +is hindered, and oftentimes almost or quite undone, by the +strivings and stirrings of inbred sin, by fits of temper, by +lightness and frivolity, by neglect of watchfulness and prayer, +and the patient, attentive study of His word; by worldliness, by +unholy ambitions, by jealousies and envyings, by uncharitable +suspicions and harsh judgments and selfish indulgences, and +slowness to believe. + +"The flesh lusteth against the Spirit," seeks to bring the soul +back under the bondage of sin again, while the Spirit wars +against the flesh, which is "the old man," "the carnal mind." The +Spirit seeks to bring every thought into "captivity to the +obedience of Christ," to lead the soul to that point of glad, +whole-hearted consecration to its Lord, and that simple, perfect +faith in the merits of His blood which shall enable Him to cast +out "the old man," destroy "the carnal mind," and, making the +heart His temple, enthrone Christ within. + +"Here on earth a temple stands, Temple never built with hands; +There the Lord doth fill the place With the glory of His grace. +Cleansed by Christ's atoning blood, _Thou_ art this fair +house of God. Thoughts, desires, that enter there, Should they +not be pure and fair? Meet for holy courts and blest, Courts of +stillness and of rest, Where the soul, a priest in white, Singeth +praises day and night; Glory of the love divine, Filling all this +heart of mine." + +My brother, my sister, what is your experience just now? Are you +filled with the Spirit? Or is the old man still warring against +Him in your heart? Oh, that you may receive Him fully by faith +just now! + +"Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" + + + + +III. + +IS THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT A THIRD BLESSING? + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +There is much difference of opinion among many of God's children +as to the time and order of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and +many who believe that entire cleansing is subsequent to +salvation, ask if the baptism with the Spirit is not subsequent +to cleansing, and, therefore, a third blessing. + +There are four classes of teachers whose views appear to differ +about this subject. There are:-- + +1. Those who emphasise cleansing; who say much of a clean heart, +but little, if anything, about the fullness of the Holy Spirit +and power from on High. + +2. Those who emphasise the baptism with the Holy Ghost and +fullness of the Spirit, but say little or nothing of cleansing +from inbred sin and the destruction of the carnal mind. + +3. Those who say much of both, but separate them into two +distinct experiences, often widely separated in time. + +4. Those who teach that the truth is in the union of the two, and +that, while we may separate them in their order, putting +cleansing first, we cannot separate them as to time, since it is +the baptism that cleanses, just as the darkness vanishes before +the flash of the electric light when the right button is touched; +just as the Augean stables were cleansed, in the fabled story of +Grecian mythology, when Hercules turned in the floods of the +River Arno; the refuse went out as the rushing waters poured in. + +There are three very blessed portions of Scripture which show us +that this is God's order, and two that plainly show us that +cleansing and the baptism are not separate in time. + +In Psalm li. 10 and 12, David prays, "Create in me a clean heart, +O God, and renew a right spirit within me.... Uphold me with Thy +free Spirit." First the cleansing, then the filling that upholds: +for as it is my spirit within me that upholds my body, so it is +God's Spirit within that upholds my soul. + +In Ezekiel xxxvi. 25 and 27, the Lord says, "Then will I sprinkle +clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your +filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.... And I +will put My Spirit within you." + +Here again, the order is first cleansing, then filling. + +In John xvii. 15-26, Jesus prays for His disciples, and says: "I +pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that +Thou shouldst keep them from the evil.... Sanctify them;... that +they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; +that they also may be one in Us;... I in them, and Thou in Me, +that they may be made perfect in one;... that the love wherewith +Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." + +Here, again, it is first sanctification (cleansing, being made +holy), then filling, divine union with the Father and the Son +through the Holy Spirit. + +These Scriptures make plain the order of God's work, and if we +looked at them alone, without diligently comparing Scripture with +Scripture, as God would have us do, we might perhaps conclude +that the cleansing and filling were as distinct and separate in +time as they are in this order of statement. + +But other Scriptures give us abundant light on that side of the +subject. In Isaiah vi. 1-8, we have the record of the prophet's +sanctification, and we notice that the cleansing and the filling +were not separate in time. The cleansing was not _before_ +the baptism, but _by_ the baptism. The "live coal" was laid +upon his mouth, and touched his lips; and by this fiery baptism +his iniquity was taken away and his sin was purged. + +In Acts x. 44, we read of Peter's preaching Jesus to Cornelius, +the Roman centurion, and his household; and "while Peter yet +spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard +the word"; and in Acts xv. 7-9, at the first Council in +Jerusalem, we have Peter's rehearsal of the experience of +Cornelius and his household. Peter says: "Men and brethren, ye +know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the +Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel, and +believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, +giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no +difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." +Here we see that their believing, and the sudden descent of the +Holy Ghost with cleansing power into their hearts, constitute one +blessed experience. + +What patient, waiting, expectant faith reckons done, the baptism +with the Holy Ghost actually accomplishes. Between the act of +faith by which a man begins to reckon himself "dead indeed unto +sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans +vi. 11), and the act of the Holy Spirit, which makes the +reckoning good, there may be an interval of time, "a little +while" (Hebrews x. 37); but the act and state of steadfastly, +patiently, joyously, perfectly believing, which is man's part, +and the act of baptising with the Holy Ghost, cleansing as by +fire, which is God's part, bring about the one experience of +entire sanctification, and must not and cannot be logically +looked upon as two distinct blessings, any more than the act of +the husband and the act of the wife can be separated in the one +experience of marriage. + +There are two works and two workers: God and man. Just as my +right arm and my left arm work when my two hands come together, +but the union of the two hands constitute one experience. + +If my left arm acts quickly, my right arm will surely respond. +And so, if the soul, renouncing self and sin and the world, with +ardour of faith in the precious blood for cleansing, and in the +promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, draws nigh to God, God +will draw nigh to that soul, and the blessed union will be +effected suddenly: and in that instant, what faith has reckoned +done will be done, the death-stroke will be given to "the old +man," sin will die, and the heart will be clean indeed, and +wholly alive toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It will +not be a mere "make-believe" experience, but a gloriously real +one. + +It is possible that some have been led into confusion of thought +on this subject by not considering all the Scriptures bearing on +it. What is it that cleanses or sanctifies, and how? Jesus prays: +"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth." Here it is +the word, or truth, that sanctifies. + +John says: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from +all sin." Here it is the blood. + +Peter says: "God...put no difference between us and them, +purifying their hearts by faith." And Paul says: "That they may +receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are +sanctified by faith." Here it is by faith. + +Again, Paul writes: "God hath from the beginning chosen you to +salvation through sanctification of the Spirit" (2 Thess. ii. +13). And again, "That the offering up of the Gentiles might be +acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost" (Romans xv. 16). +And Peter writes: "To the strangers... elect... through +sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Peter i. I, 2). Here it is the +Spirit that sanctifies or makes clean and holy. + +Is there, then, confusion here? Jesus says, "the truth"; John +says, "the blood"; Paul and Peter say, "faith," and "the Holy +Ghost." Can these be reconciled? Let us see. + +Here is a child in a burning house. A man at the peril of his +life rushes to the spot above which the child stands in awful +danger, and cries out, "Jump, and I will catch you!" + +The child hears, believes, leaps, and the man receives him; but +just as he turns and places the boy in safety, a falling timber +smites him to the ground wounded to death, and his flowing blood +sprinkles the boy whom he has saved. + +A breathless spectator says: "The child's faith saved him." +Another says: "How quick the lad was! His courageous leap saved +him." Another says: "Bless the child! He was in awful danger, and +he just barely saved himself." Another says: "That man's word +just reached the boy's ear in the nick of time, and saved him." +Another says: "God bless that man! He saved that child." And yet +another says: "That boy was saved by blood; by the sacrifice of +that heroic man!" + +Now, what saved the child? Without the man's presence and promise +there would have been no faith; and without faith there would +have been no saving action, and the boy would have perished. The +man's word saved him by inspiring faith. Faith saved him by +leading to proper action. He saved himself by leaping. The man +saved him by sacrificing his own life in order to catch him when +he leaped out. + +Not the child himself alone, nor his faith, nor his brave leap, +nor his rescuer's word, nor his blood, nor the man himself saved +the boy, but they all together saved him; and the boy was not +saved till he was in the arms of the man. + +And so it is faith and works, and the word and the blood and the +Holy Ghost that sanctify. + +The blood, the sacrifice of Christ, underlies all, and is the +meritorious cause of every blessing we receive, but the Holy +Spirit is the active Agent by whom the merits of the blood are +applied to our needs. + +During the American Civil War certain men committed some +dastardly and unlawful deeds, and were sentenced to be shot. On +the day of the execution they stood in a row confronted by +soldiers with loaded muskets, waiting the command to fire. Just +before the command was given, the commanding officer felt a touch +on his elbow, and, turning, saw a young man by his side, who +said, "Sir, there in that row, waiting to be shot, is a married +man. He has a wife and children. He is their bread-winner. If you +shoot him, he will be sorely missed. _Let me take his place._" + +"All right," said the officer; "take his place, if you wish; but +you will be shot." + +"I quite understand that," replied the young man; "but no one +will miss me"; and, going to the condemned man, he pushed him +aside, and took his place. + +Soon the command to fire was given. The volley rang out, and the +young hero dropped dead with a bullet through his heart, while +the other man went free. + +His freedom came to him by blood. Had he, however, neglected the +great salvation, and, despising the blood shed for him, and +refusing the sacrifice of the friend and the righteous claims of +the law, persisted in the same evil ways, he, too, would have +been shot. The blood, though shed for him, would not have availed +to set him free. But he accepted the sacrifice, submitted to the +law, and went home to his wife and children; but it was by the +blood; every breath he henceforth drew, every throb of his heart, +every blessing he enjoyed, or possibly could enjoy, came to him +by the blood. He owed everything from that day forth to the +blood, and every fleeting moment, every passing day, and every +rolling year but increased his debt to the blood which had been +shed for him. + +And so we owe all to the blood of Christ, for we were under +sentence of death--"The soul that sinneth it shall die"; and we +have all sinned, and God, to be holy, must frown upon sin, and +utterly condemn it, and must execute His sentence against it. + +But Jesus suffered for our sins. He died for us. "He was wounded +for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;... and +with His stripes we are healed." "Ye know that ye were not +redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with +the precious blood of Christ" (i Peter i. 18, 19); "Who loved me, +and gave Himself for me" (Gal. ii. 20). And now every blessing we +ever had, or ever shall have, comes to us by the Divine +Sacrifice, by "the precious blood." And "How shall we escape, if +we neglect so great salvation?" His blood is the meritorious +cause not only of our pardon, but of our cleansing, our +sanctification; but the Holy Spirit is the ever-present, living, +active Cause. + +The truth or word which sanctifies is the record God has given us +of His will and of that Divine Sacrifice, that "precious blood." +The faith that purifies is that sure confidence in that word +which leads to renunciation of all self-righteousness, that utter +abandonment to God's will, and full dependence on the merits of +"the precious blood," the "faith that works by love," for "faith +without works is dead." And thus we draw nigh to God, and God +draws nigh to us, and the Holy Ghost falls upon us, comes into +us, and cleanses our hearts by the destruction of sin, and the +shedding abroad within us of the love of God. + +The advocates of entire sanctification as an experience wrought +in the soul by the baptism with the Spirit subsequent to +regeneration call it "the second blessing." + +But many good people object to the term, and say that they have +received the first, second, third, and fiftieth blessing; and no +doubt they have; and yet the people who speak of "the second +blessing" are right, in the sense in which they use the term; and +in that sense there are but the two blessings. + +Some years ago a man heard things about a lady that filled him +with admiration for her, and made him feel that they were of one +mind and heart. Later, he met her for the first time, and fell in +love with her. After some months, following an enlarged +acquaintance and much consideration and prayer, he told her of +his love, and asked her to become his wife; and after due +consideration and prayer on her part she consented, and they +promised themselves to each other; they plighted their faith, and +in a sense gave themselves to each other. + +That was the first blessing, and it filled him with great peace +and joy, but not perfect peace and joy. Now, there were many +blessings following that before the great second blessing came. +Every letter he received, every tender look, every pressure of +the hand, every tone of her voice, every fresh assurance of +enduring and increasing affection was a blessing; but it was not +the second blessing. + +But one day, after patient waiting, which might have been +shortened by mutual consent, if they had thought it wise, and +after full preparation, they came together in the presence of +friends and before a man of God, and in the most solemn and +irrevocable manner gave themselves to each other to become one, +and were pronounced man and wife. That was the second blessing, +an epochal experience, unlike anything which preceded, or +anything to follow. And now their peace and joy and rest were +full. + +There had to be the first and second blessings in this +relationship of man and wife, but there is no third. And yet in +the sense of those who say they have received fifty blessings +from the Lord, there have been countless blessings in their +wedded life; indeed, it has been a river of blessing, broadening +and deepening in gladness and joy and sweet affections and +fellowship with the increasing years. + +But let us not confuse thought by disputing over terms and +wrangling about words. + +The first blessing in Jesus Christ is salvation, with its +negative side of remission of sins and forgiveness, and its +positive side of renewal or regeneration--the new birth--one +experience. + +And the second blessing is entire sanctification, with its +negative side of cleansing, and its positive side of filling with +the Holy Ghost--one whole, rounded, glorious, epochal experience. +And while there may be many refreshings, girdings, illuminations, +and secret tokens and assurances of love and favour, there is no +third blessing in this large sense, in this present time. + +But when time is no more, when the ever-lasting doors have lifted +up, and the King of Glory comes in with His Bride, and, for ever +redeemed and crowned, He makes us to sit down with Him on His +throne, then in eternity we shall have the third blessing--we +shall be glorified. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +IV. + +THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +How shall I know that I am accepted of God?--that I am saved or +sanctified? The Bible declares God's love and pity for sinners, +including me, and reveals His offer of mercy to me in Jesus +Christ, on condition that I fully repent of my sins, and yielding +myself to Him, believe on Jesus Christ, and taking up my cross, +follow Him. But how shall I know that I have met these conditions +in a way to satisfy Him, and that I am myself saved? + +1. The Bible cannot tell me this. It tells me what to do, but it +does not tell me when I have done it, any more than the sign-board +at the country cross-roads, pointing out the road leading to the +city, tells me when I have got to the city. + +2. My religious teachers and friends cannot tell me, for they +cannot read my heart, nor the mind of God toward me. How can they +know when I have in my heart repented and believed, and when His +righteous anger is turned away? + +They can encourage me to repent, believe, obey, and can assure me +that, if I do, He will accept me, and I shall be saved; but +beyond that they cannot go. + +3. My own heart, owing to its darkness and deceitfulness and +liability to error, is not a safe witness previous to the +assurance God Himself gives. If my neighbour is justly offended +with me, it is not my own heart, but his testimony that first +assures me of his favour once more. + +How, then, shall I know that I am justified or wholly sanctified? +There is but one way, and that is by the witness of the Holy +Spirit. God must notify me, and make me to know it; and this He +does, when, despairing of my own works of righteousness, I cast +my poor soul fully and in faith upon Jesus. "For ye have not +received the spirit of bondage again to fear," says Paul, "but ye +have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, +Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that +we are the children of God" (Romans viii. 15, 16). "And because +ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your +hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. iv. 6). Unless He Himself +assures me, I shall never know that He accepts me, but must +continue in uncertainty all my days. + + "Come, Holy Ghost, Thyself impress + On my expanding heart: + And show that in the Father's grace + I share a filial part." + +The General says: "Assurance is produced by the revelation of +forgiveness and acceptance made by God Himself directly to the +soul. This is the witness of the Spirit. It is God testifying in +my soul that He has loved me, and given Himself for me, and +washed me from my sins in His own blood. Nothing short of this +_actual revelation_, made by God Himself, can make anyone +sure of salvation." + +John Wesley says: "By the testimony of the Spirit, I mean an +inward impression of the soul, whereby the Spirit of God +immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit that I am a child +of God; that 'Jesus hath loved me, and given Himself for me'; +that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to +God." + +This witness of the Spirit addressed to my consciousness enables +me to sing with joyful assurance:-- + + "My God is reconciled; + His pardoning voice I hear: + He owns me for His child; + I can no longer fear: + With confidence I now draw nigh, + And, 'Father, Abba, Father,' cry." + +When the Holy Spirit witnesses to me that I am saved and adopted +into God's family as His child, then other evidences begin to +abound also. For instance:-- + +1. My own spirit witnesses that I am a new creature. I know that +old things have passed away, and all things have become new. My +very thoughts and desires have been changed. Love and joy and +peace reign within me. My heart no longer condemns me. Pride and +selfishness, and lust and temper, no longer control my thoughts +nor lead captive my will. I am a new creature, and I know it, and +I infer without doubt that this is the work of God in me. + +2. My conscience bears witness that I am honest and true in all +my purposes and intentions; that I am without guile; that my eye +is single to the glory of God, and that with all simplicity and +sincerity of heart I serve Him; and, since by nature I am only +sinful, I again infer that this sincerity of heart is His blessed +work in my soul, and is a fruit of salvation. + +3. The Bible becomes a witness to my salvation. In it are +accurately portrayed the true characteristics of the children of +God; and as I study it prayerfully, and find these characteristics +in my heart and life, I again infer that I am saved. This is true +self-examination, and is most useful. + +These evidences are most important to guard us against any +mistake as to the witness of the Holy Spirit. + +The witness of the Spirit is not likely to be mistaken for +something else, just as the sun is not likely to be mistaken for +a lesser light, a glow-worm or a moon. But one who has not seen +the sun might mistake some lesser light for the sun. So an +unsaved man may mistake some flash of fancy, some pleasant +emotion, for the witness of the Spirit. But if he is honest, the +absence of these secondary evidences and witnesses will correct +him. He must know that so long as sin masters him, reigns within +him, and he is devoid of the tempers, graces, and dispositions of +God's people, as portrayed in the Bible, that he is mistaken in +supposing that he has the witness of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit +cannot witness to what does not exist. He cannot lie. Not until +sin is forgiven does He witness to the fact. Not until we are +justified from our old sins and born again does He witness that +we are children of God; and when He does so witness, these +secondary evidences always follow. Charles Wesley expresses this +in one of his matchless hymns:-- + + "How can a sinner know + His sins on earth forgiven? + How can my gracious Saviour show + My name inscribed in Heaven? + + "We who in Christ believe + That He for us hath died, + We all His unknown peace receive, + And feel His blood applied. + + "His love, surpassing far + The love of all beneath, + We find within our hearts, and dare + The pointless darts of death. + + "Stronger than death and hell + The mystic power we prove; + And conquerors of the world, we dwell + In Heaven, who dwell in love." + +The witness of the Spirit is far more comprehensive than many +suppose. Multitudes do not believe that there is any such thing, +while others confine it to the forgiveness of sins and adoption +into the family of God. But the truth is that the Holy Spirit +witnesses to much more than this. + +He witnesses to the sinner that he is guilty, condemned before +God, and lost. This we call conviction; but it is none other than +the witness of the Spirit to the sinner's true condition; and +when a man realises it, nothing can convince him to the contrary. +His friends may point out his good works, his kindly disposition, +and try to assure him that he is not a bad man; but, so long as +the Spirit continues to witness to his guilt, nothing can console +him or reassure his quaking heart. This convicting witness may +come to a sinner at any time, but it is usually given under the +searching preaching of the Gospel, or the burning testimony of +those who have been gloriously saved and sanctified; or in time +of danger, when the soul is awed into silence, so that it can +hear the "still small voice" of the Holy Spirit. + +Again, the Holy Spirit not only witnesses to the forgiveness of +sins and acceptance with God, but He also witnesses to sanctification. +"For by one offering," says the Apostle, "He" (that is, Jesus) "hath +perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost +also is a witness to us" (Hebrews x. 14, 15). + +Indeed, one who has this witness can no more doubt it than a man +with two good eyes can doubt the existence of the sun when he +steps forth into the splendour of a cloudless noon-day. It +satisfies him, and he cries out exultingly, "We know, we know!" +Hallelujah! + +Paul seems to teach that the Holy Spirit witnesses to every good +thing God works in us, for he says: "We have received, not the +spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we +might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Cor. +ii. 12). It is for our comfort and encouragement to know our +acceptance of God and our rights, privileges, and possessions in +Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is given for this purpose, that +we may _know_. + +But it is important to bear in mind God's plan of work in this +matter. + +1. The witness of the Spirit is dependent upon our faith. God +does not give it to those who do not believe in Jesus; and if our +faith wavers, the witness will become intermittent; and if faith +fails, it will be withdrawn. Owing to the unsteadiness of their +faith, many young converts get into uncertainty. Happy are they +at such times if some one is at hand to instruct and encourage +them to look steadfastly to Jesus. But, alas! many old Christians +through unsteady faith walk in gloom and uncertainty, and, +instead of encouraging the young, they discourage them. Steadfast +faith will keep the inward witness bright. + +2. We must not get our attention off Jesus, and the promises of +God in Him, and fix it upon the witness of the Spirit. The +witness continues only while we look unto Jesus, and trust and +obey Him. When we take our eyes off Him, the witness is gone. +Many people fail here. Instead of quietly and confidently looking +unto Jesus, and trusting Him, they are vainly looking for the +witness; which is as though a man should try to realise the +sweetness of honey, without receiving it in his mouth; or the +beauty of a picture, while having his eyes turned inward upon +himself instead of outward upon the picture. Jesus saves. Look to +Him, and He will send the Spirit to witness to His work. + +3. The witness may be brightened by diligence in the discharge of +duty, by frequent seasons of glad prayer, by definite testimony +to salvation and sanctification, and by stirring up our faith. + +4. The witness may be dulled by neglect of duty, by sloth in +prayer, by inattention to the Bible, by indefinite, hesitating +testimony, and by carelessness, when we should be careful to walk +soberly and steadfastly with the Lord. + +5. I dare not say that the witness of the Spirit is dependent +upon our health, but there are some forms of nervous and organic +disease that seem to so distract or becloud the mind as to +interfere with the clear discernment of the witness of the +Spirit. I knew a nervous little child who would be so distracted +with fear by an approaching carriage, when being carried across +the street in her father's arms, that she seemed to be incapable +of hearing or heeding his reassuring voice. It may be that there +are some diseases that for the time prevent the sufferer from +discerning the reassuring witness of the Heavenly Father. Dr. Asa +Mahan told me of an experience of this kind which he had in a +very dangerous sickness. And Dr. Daniel Steele had a similar +experience while lying at the point of death with typhoid fever. +But some of the happiest Christians the world has seen have been +racked with pain and tortured with disease. + +And so there may be seasons of fierce temptation when the witness +is not clearly discerned; but we may rest assured that if our +hearts cleave to Jesus Christ and duty, He will never leave or +forsake us. Blessed be God! + +6. But the witness will be lost if we wilfully sin, or +persistently neglect to follow where He leads. This witness is a +pearl of great price, and Satan will try to steal it from us; +therefore, we must guard it with watchful prayer continually. + +7. If lost, it may be found again by prayer and faith and a +dutiful taking up of the cross which has been laid down. +Thousands who have lost it have found it again, and often they +have found it with increased brightness and glory. If you have +lost it, my brother, look up in faith to your loving God, and He +will restore it to you. It is possible to live on the right side +of plain duty without the witness, but you cannot be sure of your +salvation, joyful in service, or glad in God, without it; and +since it is promised to all God's children, no one who professes +to be His should be without it. + +If you have it not, my brother or sister, seek it now by faith in +Jesus. Go to Him, and do not let Him go till He notifies you that +you are His. Listen to Charles Wesley:-- + + "From the world of sin, and noise, + And hurry, I withdraw; + For the small and inward voice + I wait with humble awe; + Silent am I now and still, + Dare not in Thy presence move; + To my waiting soul reveal + The secret of Thy love." + +Do you want the witness to abide? Then study the word of God, and +live by it; sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord; +praise the Lord with your first waking breath in the morning, and +thank Him with your last waking breath at night; flee from sin; +keep on believing; look to Jesus, cleave to Him, follow Him +gladly, trust the efficacy of His blood, and the witness will +abide in your heart. Be patient with the Lord. Let Him mould you, +and "He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will +rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing" (Zeph. iii. +17); and you shall no longer doubt, but know that you are His. +Hallelujah! + + "There are in this loud stunning tide + Of human care and crime, + With whom the melodies abide + Of th' everlasting chime; + Who carry music in their heart + Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, + Plying their task with busier feet + Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." + +And that "holy strain" is but the echo of the Lord's song in +their heart, which is the witness of the Spirit. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +V. + +PURITY. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +A MINISTER of the Gospel, after listening to an eminent servant +of God preaching on entire sanctification through the baptism +with the Spirit, wrote to him, saying: "I like your teaching on +the baptism with the Holy Ghost. I need it, and am seeking it; +but I do not care much for entire sanctification or heart-cleansing. +Pray for me that I may be filled with the Holy Ghost." + +The brother knew him well, and immediately replied: "I am so glad +you believe in the baptism with the Holy Ghost, and are so +earnestly seeking it. I join my prayer with yours that you may +receive that gift. But let me say to you, that if you get the +gift of the Holy Ghost, you will have to take entire sanctification +with it, for the first thing the baptism with the Holy Ghost does +is to cleanse the heart from all sin." + +Thank God, he humbled himself, permitted the Lord to sanctify +him, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and mightily +empowered to work for God. + +Many have looked at the promise of power when the Holy Ghost is +come, the energy of Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost, +and the marvellous results which followed, and they have hastily +and erroneously jumped to the conclusion that the baptism with +the Holy Ghost is for work and service only. + +It does bring power--the power of God, and it does fit for +service, probably the most important service to which any created +beings are commissioned, the proclamation of salvation and the +conditions of peace to a lost world; but not that alone, nor +primarily. The primary, the basal work of the baptism, is that of +cleansing. + +You may turn a flood into your millrace, but until it sweeps away +the logs and brushwood and dirt that obstruct the course, you +cannot get power to turn the wheels of your mill. The flood first +washes out the obstructions, and then you have power. + +The great hindrance in the hearts of God's children to the power +of the Holy Ghost is inbred sin--that dark, defiant, evil +something within that struggles for the mastery of the soul, and +will not submit to be meek and lowly, and patient and forbearing +and holy, as was Jesus; and when the Holy Spirit comes, His first +work is to sweep away that something, that carnal principle, and +make free and clean all the channels of the soul. + +Peter was filled with power on the day of Pentecost; but +evidently the purifying effect of the baptism made a deeper and +more lasting impression upon his mind than the empowering effect; +for years after, in that first Council in Jerusalem, recorded in +the fifteenth chapter of Acts, he stood up and told about the +spiritual baptism of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, and his +household, and he said: "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare +them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; +and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts +by faith." Here he calls attention not to power, but to purity, +as the effect of the baptism. When the Holy Ghost comes in to +abide, "the old man" goes out. Praise the Lord! + +This destruction of inbred sin is made perfectly plain in that +wonderful Old Testament type of the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fire recorded in the sixth chapter of Isaiah. The prophet was +a most earnest preacher of righteousness (see Isaiah i. 10-20), +yet he was not sanctified wholly. But he had a vision of the Lord +upon His Throne, and the seraphims crying one to another: "Holy, +holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His +glory." And the very "posts of the door moved at the voice of him +that cried"; and how much more should the heart of the prophet be +moved! And so it was; and he cried out: "Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the +midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the +King, the Lord of Hosts." + +When unsanctified men have a vision of God, it is not their lack +of power, but their lack of purity, their unlikeness to Christ, +the Holy One, that troubles them. And so it was with the prophet. +But he adds: "Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a +live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off +the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath +touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin +purged." Here again, it is purity rather than power to which our +attention is directed. + +Again, in the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel, we have another +type of this spiritual baptism. In Isaiah the type was that of +fire, but here it is that of water; for water and oil, and the +wind and rain and dew, are all used as types of the Holy Spirit. + +The Lord says, through Ezekiel: "Then will I sprinkle clean water +upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and +from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I +give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take +away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an +heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause +you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and +do them." + +Here again, the incoming of the Holy Spirit means the outgoing of +all sin, of "all your filthiness, and of all your idols." How +plainly it is taught! And yet, many of God's dear children do not +believe it is their privilege to be free from sin and pure in +heart in this life. But, may we not? Let us consider this. + +1. It is certainly _desirable_. Every sincere Christian--and +none can be a Christian who is not sincere--wants to be free from +sin, to be pure in heart, to be like Christ. Sin is hateful to +every true child of God. The Spirit within him cries out against +the sin, the wrong temper, the pride, the lust, the selfishness, +the evil that lurks within the heart. Surely, it is desirable to +be free from sin. + + "He wills that I should holy be: + That holiness I long to feel; + That full Divine conformity + To all my Saviour's righteous will." + +2. It is _necessary_, for "without holiness no man shall see +the Lord." Sometime, somehow, somewhere, sin must go out of our +hearts--all sin--or we cannot go into Heaven. Sin would spoil +Heaven just as it spoils earth; just as it spoils the peace of +hearts and homes, of families and neighbourhoods and nations +here. Why God in His wisdom allows sin in the world, I do not +know, I cannot understand. But this I understand: that He has one +world into which He will not let sin enter. He has notified us in +advance that no sin, nothing that defiles, can enter Heaven, can +mar the blessedness of that holy place. "Who shall ascend into +the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He +that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up +his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" We must get rid of +sin to get into Heaven, to enjoy the full favour of God. It is +necessary. + + "Choose I must, and soon must choose + Holiness, or Heaven lose. + If what Heaven loves I hate, + Shut for me is Heaven's gate! + + "Endless sin means endless woe; + Into endless sin I go + If my soul, from reason rent, + Takes from sin its final bent. + + "As the stream its channel grooves, + And within that channel moves; + So does habit's deepest tide + Groove its bed and there abide. + + "Light obeyed increaseth light; + Light resisted bringeth night; + Who shall give me will to choose + If the love of light I lose? + + "Speed, my soul, this instant yield; + Let the light its sceptre wield. + While thy God prolongs His grace, + Haste thee to His holy face." + +3. This purification from sin is _promised_. Nothing can be +plainer than the promise of God on this point. "Then will I +sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from +_all_ your filthiness and from _all_ your idols will I cleanse +you." When all is removed, nothing remains. When all filthiness +and all idols are taken away, none are left. + +"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin +hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through +righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans +v. 20, 21). Grace reigns, not through sin, but "through +righteousness" which has expelled sin. Grace brings in +righteousness and sin goes out. + +"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have +fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His +Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John i. 7). Hallelujah! + +"Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of +righteousness" (Romans vi. 18). + +These are sample promises and assurances any one of which is +sufficient to encourage us to believe that our Heavenly Father +will save us from all sin, if we meet His conditions. + +4. And that deliverance is _possible_. It was for this that +Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, came into the world, and suffered +and died, that He might "save His people from their sins" +(Matthew i. 21). It was for this that He shed His precious blood: +to "cleanse us from all sin." It was for this that the word of +God, with its wonderful promises, was given: "That by these ye +might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter i. 4); by +which is meant, escape from inbred sin. It was for this that +ministers of the Gospel--Salvation Army Officers--are given, "for +the perfecting of the saints" (Eph. iv. 12), for the saving and +sanctifying of men (Acts xxvi. 18). It is primarily for this that +the Holy Ghost comes as a baptism of fire: that sin might be +consumed out of us, so that we might be "made meet for the +inheritance of the saints in light"; that so we might be ready +without a moment's warning to go into the midst of the heavenly +hosts in white garments, "washed in the blood of the Lamb." Glory +be to God for ever and ever! + +And shall all these mighty agents and this heavenly provision, +and these gracious purposes of God, fail to destroy sin out of +any obedient, believing heart? Is sin omnipotent? No! + +If you, my brother, my sister, will look unto Jesus just now, +trusting the merits of His blood, and receive the Holy Spirit +into your heart, you shall be "made free from sin"; it "shall not +have dominion over you." Hallelujah! Under the fiery touch of His +holy presence, your iniquity shall be taken away, and your sin +shall be purged. And you yourself shall burn as did the bush on +the mount of God which Moses saw; yet you, like the bush, shall +not be consumed; and by this holy fire, this flame of love, +that consumes sin, you shall be made proof against that +unquenchable fire that consumes sinners. + + "Come, Holy Ghost, Thy mighty aid bestowing; + Destroy the works of sin, the self, the pride; + Burn, burn in me, my idols overthrowing: + Prepare my heart for Him, for my Lord crucified." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +VI. + +POWER. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +JUST before His ascension, Jesus met His disciples for the last +time, and repeated His command that they should "not depart from +Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father," and +reiterated His promise that they should be "baptised with the +Holy Ghost not many days hence." + +Then "they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time +restore again the kingdom to Israel?" They were still eager for +an earthly kingdom. But "He said unto them, It is not for you to +know the time or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His +own power," or authority. And then He added, "But ye shall +receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." + +They wanted power, and He assured them that they should have it, +but said nothing of its nature, or the work and activities into +which it would thrust them, and for which it would equip them, +beyond the fact that they should be witnesses unto Him "in +Jerusalem and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the +earth." After that the Holy Ghost Himself was henceforth to be +their Teacher. + +And then Jesus left them. Earth lost its power to hold Him, and +while they beheld Him He began to ascend; a cloud bent low from +Heaven, receiving Him out of sight, and they were left alone, +with His promise of power ringing in their ears, and His command +to "wait for the promise of the Father" checking any impatience +that might lead them to "go a-fishing," as Peter had done some +days before, or cause an undue haste to begin their life-work of +witnessing for Him before God's appointed time. + +For ten days they waited, not listlessly, but eagerly, as a maid +for her mistress, or a servant for his master, who is expected to +come at any moment; they forgot their personal ambitions; they +ceased to judge and criticise one another, and in the sweet unity +of brotherly love, "with one accord" they rejoiced, they prayed, +they waited; and then on the day of Pentecost, at their early +morning prayer meeting, when they were all present, the windows +of Heaven were opened, and such a blessing as they could not +contain was poured out upon them. "And suddenly there came a +sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all +the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them +cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And +they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." + +This was the inaugural day of the Church of God: the dawn of the +dispensation of the Holy Spirit; the beginning of the days of +power. + +In the morning of that day there were only a few Christians in +the world; the New Testament was not written, and it is doubtful +if they had among them all a copy of the Old Testament; they had +no church buildings, no colleges, no religious books and papers; +they were poor and despised, unlearned and ignorant; but before +night they had enrolled three thousand converts from among those +who, a few weeks before, had crucified their Lord, and they had +aroused and filled all Jerusalem with questionings and amazement. + +What was the secret? Power. What was the secret? God the Holy +Ghost. He had come, and this work was His work, and they were His +instruments. + +When Jesus came, a body was prepared for Him (Hebrews x. 5), and +through that body He wrought His wondrous works; but when the +other Comforter comes, He takes possession of those bodies that +are freely and fully presented to Him, and He touches their lips +with grace; He shines peacefully and gloriously on their faces; +He flashes beams of pity and compassion and heavenly affection +from their eyes; He kindles a fire of love in their hearts, and +lights the flame of truth in their minds. They become His temple, +and their hearts are a holy of holies in which His blessed +presence ever abides, and from that central citadel He works, +enduing the man who has received Him with power. + +If you ask how the Holy Spirit can dwell within us and work +through us without destroying our personality, I cannot tell. How +can the electric fluid fill and transform a dead wire into a live +one, which you dare not touch? How can a magnetic current fill a +piece of steel, and transform it into a mighty force which by its +touch can raise tons of iron, as a child would lift a feather? +How can fire dwell in a piece of iron until its very appearance +is that of fire, and it becomes a fire-brand? I cannot tell. + +Now, what fire and electricity and magnetism do in iron and +steel, the Holy Spirit does in the spirits of men who believe on +Jesus, follow Him wholly, and trust Him intelligently. He dwells +in them, and inspires them, till they are all alive with the very +life of God. + +The transformation wrought in men by the baptism with the Holy +Ghost, and the power that fills them, are amazing beyond measure. +The Holy Spirit gives-- + +1. _Power over the world_. They become + + "Dead to the world and all its toys, + Its idle pomps and fading joys." + +The world masters and enslaves people who have not the Holy +Spirit. To one man it offers money, and he falls down and +worships; sells his conscience and character for gold. To another +it offers power, and he falls down and worships and sacrifices +his principles and sears his conscience for power. To another it +offers pleasure; to another learning; to another fame, and they +fall down and worship, and sell themselves for these things. But +the man filled with the Holy Ghost is free. He can turn from +these things without a pang, as he would from pebbles; or, he can +take them and use them as his servants for the glory of God and +the good of men. + +What did Peter and James and John care for the great places in +the kingdoms of this world after they were filled with the Holy +Ghost? They would not have exchanged places with Herod the king +or with Caesar himself. For the gratification of any personal +ambition these things were no more attractive to them now than +the lordship over a tribe of ants on their tiny hill. They were +now kings and priests unto God, and theirs was an everlasting +kingdom, and its glory exceeds the glory of the kingdoms of this +world as the splendour of the sun exceeds that of the glow-worm. + +The head of some great business enterprises was making many +thousands of dollars every year; but when the Holy Spirit filled +him money lost its power over him. He still retained his +position, and made vast sums; but, as a steward of the Lord, he +poured it into God's work, and has been doing so for more than +thirty years. + +The disciples in Jerusalem after Pentecost held all their +possessions in common, so completely were they freed from the +power and love of money. + +A rising young lawyer got filled with the Spirit, and the next +day said to his client: "I cannot plead your case. I have a +retainer from the Lord Jesus"; and he became one of the mightiest +preachers the world has ever seen. + +A popular lad got the fiery baptism, and went to his baseball +team, and said: "Boys, you swear, and I am now a Christian, and I +cannot play with you any more"; and God made him the wonder of +all his old friends, and a happy winner of souls. + +A fashionable woman got the baptism, and God gave her power to +break away from her worldly set and surroundings, live wholly for +Him, and gave her an influence that girdled the globe. + +Paul said: "The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the +world." Men could whip, and stone, and imprison his body, and cut +off his head, but his soul was free. It was enslaved and driven +by no unholy or inordinate ambition, by no lust for gold, by no +desire for power or fame, by no fear of man, by no shame of +worldly censure or adverse public opinion. He had power over the +world, and this same power is the birthright of every converted +man, and the present possession of every one who is wholly +sanctified by the baptism with the Holy Ghost. + +2. _Power over the flesh_. The body which God intended for a +"house beautiful" for the soul, and a temple holy unto Himself, +is often reduced to a sty, where the imprisoned soul wallows in +lusts and passions, and degrades itself below the level of +beasts. But this baptism gives a man power over his body. + +God has given to man such desires and passions as are necessary +to secure his continued existence, and not one is in itself evil, +but good and only good; and when controlled and used, but not +abused, will help to develop and maintain the purest and highest +manhood. The appetites for food and drink are necessary to life. +Another desire is intended to secure the continuance of the human +race. And so all the desires and appetites of the body have +useful ends, and were given to us in love by our Heavenly Father +for high and essential purposes, and are necessary to us as human +beings. + +But the soul, cut off from fellowship with God, by sin, seeks +satisfaction in sensual excesses, and the unlawful gratification +of these appetites, and so sinks to depths of degradation to +which no beast ever falls. Thus man becomes a slave; swollen and +raging passion takes the place of innocent appetites and desires. + +Now, when the Holy Spirit enters the heart and sanctifies the +soul, He does not destroy these desires, but He purifies and +regulates them. He reinforces the soul with the fear and love of +God, and gives it power, complete power, over the fleshly +appetites. He restores it to its full fellowship with God and its +kingship over the body. + +But while these appetites and desires are not in themselves +sinful, but are necessary for our welfare and our complete +manhood, and while their diseased and abnormal power is cured +when we are sanctified, they are still avenues through which we +may be tempted. Therefore, they must be guarded with care and +ruled in wisdom. Many people stumble at and reject the doctrine +of entire sanctification, because they do not understand these +things. They mistake that which is natural and essential to a +human being for the diseased and abnormal propensity caused by +sin, and so miss the blessed truth of full salvation. + +I knew a doctor, who had used tobacco for over sixty years, +delivered from the abnormal appetite instantly through sanctification +of the Spirit. I knew an old man, who had been a drunkard for over +fifty years, similarly delivered. I knew a young man, the slave of a +vicious habit of the flesh, who was set free at once by the fiery +baptism. The electric current cannot transform the dead wire into +a live one quicker than the Holy Spirit can flood a soul with light +and love, destroy the carnal mind, and fill a man with power over +all sin. + +3. _Power over the Devil_. The indwelling presence of the +Holy Spirit destroys all doubt as to the personality of the +Devil. He is discerned, and his malice is felt and known as never +before. + +In the dark a man may be so skilfully attacked that his enemy is +not discovered, but not in the day. Many people in these days +deny that there is any Devil, only evil; but they are in the +dark, so much in the dark that they not only say that there is no +Devil, but that there is no personal God, only good. But the day +comes with the Holy Spirit's entrance, and then God is intimately +known and the Devil is discovered. And as he assailed Jesus after +His baptism with the Spirit, so he does to-day all who receive +the Holy Ghost. He comes as an angel of light to deceive, and as +a roaring lion to devour and overcome with fear; but the soul +filled with the Spirit outwits the Devil, and, clad in the whole +armour of God, overcomes the old enemy. + +"Power over all the power of the enemy" is God's purpose for all +His children. Power to do the will of God patiently and +effectively, with naturalness and ease, or to suffer the will of +God with patience and good cheer, comes with this blessed +baptism. It is power for service or sacrifice, according to God's +will. Have you this power? If not, it is for you. Yield yourself +fully to Christ just now, and if you ask in faith you shall +receive. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +VII. + +TRYING THE SPIRITS. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Those who have not the Holy Spirit, or who do not heed Him, fall +easily and naturally into formalism, substituting lifeless +ceremonies, sacraments, genuflections, and ritualistic performances +for the free, glad, living worship inspired by the indwelling +Spirit. They sing, but not from the heart. They say their prayers, +but they do not really pray. "I prayed last night, mother," said a +child. "Why, my child, you pray every night!" replied the mother. +"No," said the child, "I only said prayers, but last night I really +prayed." And his face shone. He had opened his heart to the Holy +Spirit, and had at last really talked with God and worshipped. + +But those who receive the Holy Spirit may fall into fanaticism, +unless they follow the command of John to "try the spirits, +whether they are of God." + +We are commanded to "despise not prophesyings," but at the same +time we are commanded to "prove all things." "Many false prophets +are gone out into the world," and, if possible, will lead us +astray. So we must beware. As some one has written, we must +"Believe not every spirit; regard not, trust not, follow not, +every pretender to the Spirit of God, or every professor of +vision, or inspiration, or revelation from God." + +The higher and more intense the life, the more carefully must it +be guarded, lest it be endangered and go astray. It is so in the +natural world, and likewise in the spiritual world. + +When Satan can no longer rock people to sleep with religious +lullabys, or satisfy them with the lifeless form, then he comes +as an angel of light, probably in the person of some professor or +teacher of religion, and seeks to usurp the place of the Holy +Spirit; but instead of leading "into all truth," he leads the +unwary soul into deadly error; instead of directing him on to the +highway of holiness, and into the path of perfect peace, where no +ravenous beast ever comes, he leads him into a wilderness where +the soul, stripped of its beautiful garments of salvation, is +robbed and wounded and left to die, if some good Samaritan, with +patient pity and Christlike love, come not that way. + +1. When the Holy Spirit comes in His fullness, He strips men of +their self-righteousness and pride and conceit. They see +themselves as the chief of sinners, and realise that only through +the stripes of Jesus are they healed; and ever after, as they +live in the Spirit, their boast is in Him and their glory is in +the cross. Remembering the hole of the pit from which they were +digged, they are filled with tender pity for all who are out of +the way; and, while they do not excuse or belittle sin, yet they +are slow to believe evil, and their judgments are full of +charity. + + "Judge not; the workings of his brain + And of his heart thou canst not see: + What looks to thy dim eyes a stain, + In God's pure light may only be + A scar, brought from some well-won field, + Where thou wouldst only faint and yield." + +But the man who has been thus snared by Satan forgets his own +past miserable state, and boasts of his righteousness, and thanks +God that he was never as other men, and he begins to beat his +fellow-servants with heavy denunciations, and thrust them through +with sharp criticisms, and pelt them with hard words. He ceases +to pity, and begins to condemn; he no longer warns and entreats +men in tender love, but is quick to believe evil, and swift to +pass judgment, not only upon their actions, but upon their +motives as well. + +True charity has no fellowship with deeds of darkness. It never +calls evil good, it does not wink at iniquity, but it is as far +removed from this sharp, condemning spirit as light is from +darkness, as honey is from vinegar. It is quick to condemn sin, +but is full of saving, long-suffering compassion for the sinner. + +2. A humble, teachable mind marks those in whom the Holy Spirit +dwells. They esteem very highly in love those who are over them +in the Lord, and are glad to be admonished by them. They submit +themselves one to the other in the fear of the Lord, welcome +instruction and correction, and esteem "open rebuke better than +secret love" (Proverbs xxvii. 5). They believe that the Lord has +yet many things to say unto them, and they are willing and glad +for Him to say them by whom He will, but especially by their +leaders and their brethren. While they do not fawn and cringe +before men, nor believe everything that is said to them, without +proving it by the word and Spirit of God, they believe that God +"gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; +and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, +for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of +Christ"; and, like Cornelius, they are ready to hear these +appointed ministers, and receive the word of the Lord from them. + +But Satan seeks to destroy all this lowliness of spirit and +humbleness of mind. Those in whom his deadly work has begun are +"wiser in their own conceit than seven men that can render a +reason." They are wiser than all their teachers, and no man can +instruct them. One of these deluded souls, who had previously +been marked by modesty and humility, declared of certain of God's +chosen leaders whose spiritual knowledge and wisdom were +everywhere recognised, that "the whole of them knew no more +about the Holy Ghost than an old goose." Paul, Luther, and Wesley +were much troubled, and their work greatly hurt, by some of these +misguided souls, and every great spiritual awakening is likely to +be marred more or less by such people; so that we cannot be too +much on our guard against false spirits who would counterfeit the +work and leadings of the Holy Spirit. + +It is this huge conceit that has led some men to announce +themselves as apostles and prophets to whom all men must listen, +or fall under the wrath of God; while others have declared that +they were living in resurrection bodies and should not die; and +yet others have reached that pitch of fanaticism where they could +calmly proclaim themselves to be the Messiah, or the Holy Ghost +in bodily form. Such people will be quick to deny the infallibility +of the Pope, while they assume their own infallibility, and +denounce all who dispute it. + +The Holy Spirit may lead to a holy rivalry in love and humility +and brotherly kindness and self-denial and good works, but He +never leads men into the swelling conceit of such exclusive +knowledge and superior wisdom that they can no longer be taught +by their fellow-men. + +3. Again, the man who is filled with the Spirit is tolerant of +those who differ from him in opinion, in doctrine. He is firm in +his own convictions, and ready at all times with meekness and +fear to explain and defend the doctrines which he holds and is +convinced are according to God's word, but he does not condemn +and consign to damnation all those who differ from him. He is +glad to believe that men are often better than their creed, and +may be saved in spite of it; that, like mountains whose bases are +bathed with sunshine and clothed with fruitful fields and +vineyards, while their tops are covered with dark clouds, so +men's hearts are often fruitful in the graces of charity, while +their heads are yet darkened by doctrinal error. + +Anyway, as "the servant of the Lord," he will "not strive; but be +gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness +instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure +will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and +that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil" +(2 Timothy ii. 24-26). + +But when Satan comes as an angel of light he will, under guise of +love for and loyalty to the truth, introduce the spirit of +intolerance. It was this spirit that crucified Jesus; that burned +Huss and Cranmer at the stake; that strangled Savonarola; that +inspired the massacre of St. Bartholomew and the horrors of the +Inquisition; and it is the same spirit, in a milder but possibly +more subtle form, that blinds the eyes of many professing +Christians to any good in those who differ from them in doctrine, +forms of worship or methods of government. They murder love to +protect what they often blindly call truth. What is truth without +love? A dead thing, an encumbrance, the letter that killeth! + +The body is necessary to our life in this world, but life can +exist in a deformed and even mutilated body; and such a body with +life in it is better than the most perfect body that is only a +corpse. So, while truth is most precious, and sound doctrine to +be esteemed more than silver and gold, yet love can exist where +truth is not held in its most perfect and complete forms, and +love is the one thing needful. + + "The love of God is broader + Than the measure of man's mind: + And the heart of the Eternal + Is most wonderfully kind." + +4. The Holy Ghost begets a spirit of unity among Christians. +People who have been sitting behind their sectarian fences in +self-complacent ease, or proud indifference, or proselytising +zeal, or grim defiance, are suddenly lifted above the fence, and +find sweet fellowship with each other, when He comes into their +hearts. + +They delight in each other's society; they each esteem others +better than themselves, and in honour they prefer one another +before themselves. They fulfil the Psalmist's ideal: "Behold, how +good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in +unity." Here is a picture of the unity of Christians in the +beginning in Jerusalem: "And they were all filled with the Holy +Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the +multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one +soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he +possessed was his own; but they had all things common." What an +ideal is this! And since it has been attained once, it can be +attained again and retained, but only by the indwelling of the +Holy Ghost. It was for this that Jesus poured out His heart in +His great intercessory prayer, recorded in John xvii., just +before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. He says, "I pray +for them.... Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also +which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may +be one." And what was the standard of unity to which He would +have us come? Listen! + +"As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be +one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." +Such unity has a wondrous power to compel the belief of worldly +men. "And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that +they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, +that they may be perfect in one; and that the world may +_know_ that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou +hast loved Me." Wondrous unity! Wondrous love! + +It is for this His blessed heart eternally yearns, and it is for +this that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of those who +receive Him. But Satan ever seeks to destroy this holy love and +divine unity. When he comes, he arouses suspicions, he stirs up +strife, he quenches the spirit of intercessory prayer, he +engenders backbitings, and causes separations. + +After enumerating various Christian graces, and urging the +Colossians to put them on, Paul adds: "And above all these +things, put on charity," or love, "which is the bond of +perfectness" (Col. iii. 14). These graces were garments, and love +was the girdle which bound and held them together; and so love is +the bond that holds true Christians together. + +Divine love is the great test by which we are to try ourselves +and all teachers and spirits. + +Love is not puffed up. Love is not bigoted. Love is not +intolerant. Love is not schismatic. Love is loyal to Jesus and to +all His people. If we have this love shed abroad in our hearts by +the Holy Ghost, we shall discern the voice of our Good Shepherd, +and we shall not be deceived by the voice of the stranger; and so +we shall be saved from both formalism and fanaticism. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +VIII. + +GUIDANCE. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +It is the work of the Holy Spirit to guide the people of God +through the uncertainties and dangers and duties of this life to +their home in Heaven. When He led the children of Israel out of +Egypt, by the hand of Moses, He guided them through the waste, +mountainous wilderness, in a pillar of cloud by day and of fire +by night, thus assuring their comfort and safety. And this was +but a type of His perpetual spiritual guidance of His people. + +"But how may I certainly know what God wants of me?" is sure to +become the earnest and, oftentimes, the agonising cry of every +humble and devoutly zealous young Christian. "How may I know the +guidance of the Holy Spirit?" is asked again and again. + +1. It is well for us to get it fixed in our minds that we need to +be guided always by Him. A ship was wrecked on a rocky coast far +out of the course that the captain thought he was taking. On +examination, it was found that the compass had been slightly +deflected by a bit of metal that had lodged in the box. + +But the voyage of life on which we each one sail is beset by as +many dangers as the ship at sea, and how shall we surely steer +our course to our heavenly harbour without Divine guidance? There +is a wellnigh infinite number of influences to deflect us from +the safe and certain course. We start out in the morning, and we +know not what person we may meet, what paragraph we may read, +what word may be spoken, what letter we may receive, what subtle +temptation may assail or allure us, what immediate decisions we +may have to make during the day, that may turn us almost +imperceptibly, but none the less surely, from the right way. We +need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. + +2. We not only need Divine guidance, but we may have it. God's +word assures us of this. Oh! how my heart was comforted and +assured one morning by these words: "And the Lord shall guide +thee continually" (Isaiah lviii. 11). Not occasionally, not +spasmodically, but "continually." Hallelujah! The Psalmist says: +"This God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our Guide even +unto death" (Psalm xlviii. 14). Again, he says: "The meek will +He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way" (Psalm +xxv. 9). And again, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the +way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye" (Psalm +xxxii. 8). And again, "Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel" +(Psalm lxxiii. 24). Jesus said of the Holy Spirit: "Howbeit when +He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all +truth" (John xvi. 13). And Paul wrote: "As many as are led by the +Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans viii. 14). + +These Scriptures establish the fact that the children of God may +be guided always by the Spirit of God. + + "Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, + Pilgrim through this barren land! + I am weak, but Thou art mighty: + Hold me with Thy powerful hand." + +3. How does God guide us? + +Paul says: "We walk by faith, not by sight," and, "The just shall +live by faith," so we may conclude:-- + +(a) That the guidance of the Holy Spirit is such as still to +demand the exercise of faith. God never leads us in such a way as +to do away with the necessity of faith. When God warned Noah, we +read that it was by faith that Noah was led to build the ark. +When God told Abraham to go to a land which He would show him, it +was by faith that Abraham went (Hebrews xi. 7, 8). If we believe, +we shall surely be guided; but if we do not believe, we shall be +left to ourselves. Without faith it is impossible to please God, +or to follow where He leads. Again, the Psalmist says, "The meek +will He guide in judgment," from which we gather:-- + +(b) That the Spirit guides us in such manner as to demand the +exercise of our best judgment. He enlightens our understanding +and directs our judgment by sound reason and sense. + +I knew a man who was eager to obey God, and to be led by the +Spirit, but who had the mistaken idea that the Holy Spirit sets +aside human judgment and common sense, and speaks directly upon +the most minute and commonplace matters. He wanted the Holy +Spirit to direct him just how much to eat at each meal, and he +has been known to take food out of his mouth at what he supposed +to be the Holy Spirit's notification that he had eaten enough, +and that if he swallowed that mouthful, it would be in violation +of the leadings of the Spirit. + +No doubt, the Spirit will help an honest man to arrive at a safe +judgment even in matters of this kind, but it will doubtless be +through the use of his sanctified common sense. Otherwise, he is +reduced to a state of mental infancy, and kept in intellectual +swaddling clothes. He will guide us in judgment; but it is only +as we resolutely, and in the best light we have, exercise +judgment. + +John Wesley said that God usually guided him by presenting +reasons to his mind for any given course of action. + +(c) The Psalmist says, "Thou shalt guide me with Thy +counsel," and "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way +that thou shalt go." Now, counsel, instruction, and teaching not +only imply effort upon the part of the teacher, but also study +and close attention on the part of the one being taught. So this +guidance of the Holy Spirit is such as will require us to +attentively listen, diligently study, and patiently learn the +lessons He would teach us. And so we see that the Holy Spirit +does not set aside our powers and faculties, but seeks to awaken +and stir them into full activity, and develop them into well-rounded +perfection, and thus make them channels through which He +can intelligently influence and direct us. + +What He seeks to do is to illuminate our whole spiritual being, +as the sun illuminates our physical being, and bring us into such +union and sympathy, such oneness of thought, desire, affection, +and purpose with God, that we shall, by a kind of spiritual +instinct, know at all times the mind of God concerning us, and +never be in doubt about His will. + +4. The Holy Spirit guides us-- + +(a) By opening up to our minds the deep, sanctifying truths of +the Bible, and especially by revealing to us the character and +spirit of Jesus and His Apostles, and leading us to follow in +their footsteps--the footsteps of their faith and love and +unselfish devotion to God and man, even unto the laying down of +their lives. + +(b) By the circumstances and surroundings of our daily life. + +(c) By the counsel of others, especially of devout, and wise, and +experienced men and women of God. + +(d) By deep inward conviction, which increases as we wait +upon Him in prayer and readiness to obey. It is by this sovereign +conviction that men are called to preach, to go to foreign fields +as missionaries, to devote their time, talents, money, and lives +to God's work for the bodies and souls of men. + +5. Why do people seek for guidance and not find it? + +(a) Because they do not diligently study God's word, and +seek to be filled with its truths and principles. They neglect +the cultivation of their minds and hearts in the school of +Christ, and so miss Divine guidance. One of the mightiest men of +God now living used to carry his Bible with him into the coal +mine when only a boy, and spent his spare time filling his mind +and heart with its heavenly truths, and so prepared himself to be +divinely led in mighty labours for God. + +(b) They do not humbly accept the daily providences, the +circumstances, and conditions of their everyday life as a part of +God's present plan for them; as His school in which He would +train them for greater things; as His vineyard in which He would +have them diligently labour. + +A young woman imagined she was called to devote herself entirely +to saving souls; but under the searching training through which +she had to pass saw her selfishness, and she said she would have +to return home, and live a holy life there, and seek to get her +family saved--something which she had utterly neglected--before +she could go into the work. If we are not faithful at home, or in +the shop, or mill, or store where we work, we shall miss God's +way for us. + +(c) Because they are not teachable, and are unwilling to receive +instruction from other Christians. They are not humble-minded. + +(d) Because they do not wait on God, and listen and heed the +inner leadings of the Holy Spirit. They are self-willed; they +want their own way. Some one has said, "That which is often asked +of God is not so much His will and way, as His approval of our +way." And another has said: "God's guidance is plain, when we are +true." If we promptly and gladly obey, we shall not miss the way. +Paul said of himself, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly +vision." He obeyed God at all costs, and so the Holy Spirit could +guide him. + +(e) Because of fear and unbelief. It was this fearfulness of +unbelief that caused the Israelites to turn back, and not go into +Canaan when Caleb and Joshua assured them that God would help +them to possess the land. They lost sight of God, and feared the +giants and walled cities, and so missed God's way for them and +perished in the wilderness. + +(f) Because they do not take everything promptly and confidently +to God in prayer. + +Paul tells us to be "instant in prayer"; and I am persuaded that +it is slowness and delay to pray, and sloth and sleepiness in +prayer, that rob God's children of the glad assurance of His +guidance in all things. + +(g) Because of impatience and haste. Some of God's plans +for us unfold slowly, and we must patiently and calmly wait on +Him in faith and faithfulness, assured that in due time He will +make plain His way for us, if our faith fail not. It is never +God's will that we should get into a headlong hurry; but that, +with patient steadfastness, we should learn to stand still when +the pillar of cloud and fire does not move, and that with loving +confidence and glad promptness we should strike our tents and +march forward when He leads. + + "When we cannot see our way, + Let us trust and still obey; + He who bids us forward go, + Cannot fail the way to show. + Though the sea be deep and wide, + Though a passage seem denied; + Fearless, let us still proceed, + Since the Lord vouchsafes to lead." + +Finally, we may rest assured that the Holy Spirit never leads His +people to do anything that is wrong, or that is contrary to the +will of God as revealed in the Bible. He never leads anyone to be +impolite and discourteous. "Be courteous" is a Divine command. He +would have us respect the minor graces of gentle, kindly manners, +as well as the great laws of holiness and righteousness. + +He may sometimes lead us in ways that are hard for flesh and +blood, and that bring to us sorrow and loss in this life. He led +Jesus into the wilderness to be sore tried by the Devil, and to +Pilate's judgment hall, and to the cross. He led Paul in ways +that meant imprisonment, stonings, whippings, hunger and cold, +and bitter persecution and death. But He upheld Paul until he +cried out: "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in +necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake." +"Yea," said he, "I glory in my infirmities, that the power of +Christ may rest upon me." Hallelujah! Oh, to be thus led by our +Heavenly Guide! + + "He leadeth me! Oh, blessed thought! + Oh, words with heavenly comfort fraught! + Whate'er I do, where'er I be, + Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. + + "Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom, + Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, + By waters still, o'er troubled sea, + Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. + + "Lord, I will clasp Thy hand in mine, + Nor ever murmur nor repine, + Content, whatever lot I see, + Since 'tis my God that leadeth me. + + "And when my task on earth is done, + When by Thy grace the victory's won, + E'en death's cold wave I will not flee, + Since God through Jordan leadeth me." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +IX. + +THE MEEK AND LOWLY HEART. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +I know a man whose daily prayer for years was that he might be +meek and lowly in heart as was his Master. "Take My yoke upon +you, and learn of Me," said Jesus; "for I am meek and lowly in +heart." + +How lowly Jesus was! He was the Lord of life and glory. He made +the worlds, and upholds them by His word of power (John i., +Hebrews i.). But He humbled Himself, and became man, and was born +of the Virgin in a manger among the cattle. He lived among the +common people, and worked at the carpenter's bench. And then, +anointed with the Holy Spirit, He went about doing good, +preaching the Gospel to the poor, and ministering to the manifold +needs of the sick and sinful and sorrowing. He touched the +lepers; He was the Friend of publicans and sinners. His whole +life was a ministry of mercy to those who most needed Him. He +humbled Himself to our low estate. He was a King who came "lowly, +and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass" +(Zech. ix. 9). He was a King, but His crown was of thorns, and a +cross was His throne. + +What a picture Paul gives us of the mind and heart of Jesus! He +exhorts the Philippians, saying, "Let nothing be done through +strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem +other better than themselves"; and then he adds, "Let this mind +be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form +of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made +Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a +servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in +fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto +death, even the death of the cross." + +Now, when the Holy Spirit finds His way into the heart of a man, +the Spirit of Jesus has come to that man, and leads him to the +same meekness of heart and lowly service that were seen in the +Master. + +Ambition for place and power and money and fame vanishes, and in +its place is a consuming desire to be good and do good, to +accomplish in full the blessed, the beneficent will of God. + +Some time ago I met a woman who, as a trained nurse in Paris, +nursing rich, English-speaking foreigners, received pay that in a +few years would have made her independently wealthy; but the +spirit of Jesus came into her heart, and she is now nursing the +poor, and giving her life to them, and doing for them service the +most loathsome and exacting, and doing it with a smiling face, +for her food and clothes. + +Some able men in one of our largest American cities lost their +spiritual balance, cut themselves loose from all other Christians, +and made for a time quite a religious stir among many good people. +They were very clear and powerful in their presentation of certain +phases of truth, but they were also very strong, if not bitter, +in their denunciations of all existing religious organisations. +They attacked the churches and The Salvation Army, pointing out +what they considered wrong so skilfully, and with such professions +of sanctity, that many people were made most dissatisfied with the +churches and with The Army. + +An Army Captain listened to them, and was greatly moved by their +fervour, their burning appeals, their religious ecstasy, and +their denunciations of the lukewarmness of other Christians, +including The Army. She began to wonder if after all they were +not right, and whether or not the Holy Spirit was amongst us. Her +heart was full of distress, and she cried to God. And then the +vision of our Slum Officers rose before her eyes. She saw their +devotion, their sacrifice, their lowly, hidden service, year +after year, among the poor and ignorant and vicious, and she said +to herself, "Is not this the Spirit of Jesus? Would these men, +who denounce us so, be willing to forgo their religious ecstasies +and spend their lives in such lowly, unheralded service?" And the +mists that had begun to blind her eyes were swept away, and she +saw Jesus still amongst us going about doing good in the person +of our Slum Officers and of all who for His name's sake sacrifice +their time and money and strength to bless and save their +fellow-men. + +You who have visions of glory and rapturous delight, and so count +yourselves filled with the Spirit, do these visions lead you to +virtue and to lowly, loving service? If not, take heed to +yourselves, lest, exalted like Capernaum to Heaven, you are at +last cast down to Hell. Thank God for the mounts of transfiguration +where we behold His glory! but down below in the valley are +children possessed of devils, and to them He would have us go +with the glory of the mount on our faces, and lowly love and +vigorous faith in our hearts, and clean hands ready for any service. +He would have us give ourselves to them; and if we love Him, +if we follow Him, if we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit, we +will. + +A Captain used to slip out of bed early in the morning to pray, +and then black his own and his Lieutenant's boots, and God +mightily blessed him. Recently I saw him, now a Commissioner, +with thousands of Officers and Soldiers under his command, at an +outing in the woods by the lake shore, looking after poor and +forgotten Soldiers, and giving them food with his own hand. Like +the Lord, his eyes seemed to be in every place beholding +opportunities to do good, and his feet and hands always followed +his eyes; and this is the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +X. + +HOPE. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Are you ever cast down and depressed in spirit? Listen to Paul: +"Now, the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in +believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the +Holy Ghost" (Romans xv. 13). What cheer is in those words! They +ring like the shout of a triumph. + +1. God Himself is "the God of hope." There is no gloom, no +depression, no wasting sickness of deferred hope in Him. He is a +brimming fountain and ocean of hope eternally, and He is our God. +He is our Hope. + +2. Out of His infinite fullness He is to fill us; not half fill +us, but fill us with joy, "all joy," hallelujah! "and peace." + +3. And this is not by some condition or means that is so high and +difficult that we cannot perform our part, but it is simply "in +believing "--something which the little child or the aged +philosopher, the poor man and the rich man, the ignorant and the +learned can do. And the result will be:-- + +4. Abounding "hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." And what +power is that? If it is physical power, then the power of a +million Niagaras and flowing oceans and rushing worlds is as +nothing compared to it. If it is mental power, then the power of +Plato and Bacon and Milton and Shakespeare and Newton is as the +light of a fire-fly to the sun when compared to it. If it is +spiritual power, then there is nothing with which it can be +compared. But suppose it is all three in one, infinite and +eternal! This is the power, throbbing with love and mercy, to +which we are to bring our little hearts by living faith, and God +will fill us with joy and peace and hope by the incoming of the +Holy Spirit. + +God's people are a hopeful people. They hope in God, with whom +there is no change, no weakness, no decay. In the darkest night +and the fiercest storm they still hope in Him, though it may be +feebly. But He would have His people "abound in hope" so that +they should always be buoyant, triumphant. + +But how can this be in a world such as this? We are surrounded by +awful, mysterious, and merciless forces, that at any moment may +overwhelm us. The fire may burn us, the water may drown us, the +hurricane may sweep us away, friends may desert us, foes may +master us. There is the depression that comes from failing +health, from poverty, from overwork and sleepless nights and +constant care, from thwarted plans, disappointed ambitions, +slighted love, and base ingratitude. Old age comes on with its +grey hairs, failing strength, dimness of sight, dullness of +hearing, tottering step, shortness of breath, and general +weakness and decay. The friends of youth die, and a new, strange, +pushing generation that knows not the old man, comes elbowing him +aside and taking his place. Under some blessed outpouring of the +Spirit the work of God revives, vile sinners are saved, Zion puts +on her beautiful garments, reforms of all kind advance, the +desert blossoms as the rose, the waste place becomes a fruitful +field, and the millennium seems just at hand; and then the +spiritual tide recedes, the forces of evil are emboldened, they +mass themselves and again sweep over the heritage of the Lord, +leaving it waste and desolate, and the battle must be fought over +again. + +How can one be always hopeful, always abounding in hope, in such +a world? Well, hallelujah! it is possible "through the power of +the Holy Ghost," but only through His power; and this power will +not fail so long as we fix our eyes on eternal things and +believe. + +The Holy Spirit, dwelling within, turns our eyes from that which +is temporal to that which is eternal; from the trial itself to +God's purpose in the trial; from the present pain to the precious +promise. + +I am now writing in a little city made rich by vast potteries. If +the dull, heavy clay on the potter's wheel and in the fiery oven +could think and speak, it would doubtless cry out against the +fierce agony; but if it could foresee the purpose of the potter, +and the thing of use and beauty he meant to make it, it would +nestle low under his hand and rejoice in hope. + +We are clay in the hand of the Divine Potter, but we can think +and speak, and in some measure understand His high purpose in us. +It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make us understand. And if +we will not be dull and senseless and unbelieving, He will +illuminate us and fill us with peaceful, joyous hope. + +1. He would reveal to us that our Heavenly Potter has Himself +been on the wheel and in the fiery furnace, learning obedience +and being fashioned into "the Captain of our salvation" by the +things which He suffered. When we are tempted and tried, and +tempest-tossed, He raises our hope by showing us Jesus suffering +and sympathising with us, tempted in all points as we are, and so +able and wise and willing to help us in our struggle and conflict +(Hebrews ii. 9-18). He assures us that Jesus, into whose hands is +committed all power in Heaven and earth, is our elder Brother, +"touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews iv. 15), +and He encourages us to rest in Him and not be afraid; and so we +abound in hope, through His power as we believe. + +2. He reveals to us the eternal purpose of God in our trials and +difficulties. Listen to Paul: "All things work together for good +to them that love God." "We know _this_," says Paul (Romans +viii. 28). But how can this be? Ah! there is where faith must be +exercised. It is "in believing" that we "abound in hope through +the power of the Holy Ghost." + +God's wisdom and ability to make all things work together for our +good are not to be measured by our understanding, but to be +firmly held by our faith. My child is in serious difficulty and +does not know how to help himself; but I say, "Leave it to me." +He may not understand how I am to help him, but he trusts me, and +rejoices in hope. We are God's dear children, and He knows how to +help us, and make all things work together for our good, if we +will only commit ourselves to Him in faith. + + "Thou art as much His care as if beside + Nor man nor angel lived in Heaven or earth; + Thus sunbeams pour alike their glorious tide, + To light up worlds, or wake an insect's mirth." + +Again, afflictions overtake us, and now the Holy Spirit +encourages our hope and makes it to abound by such promises as +these: "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh +for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we +look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which +are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the +things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. iv. 17, 18). But +such a promise as that only mocks us if we do not believe. "In +all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His +presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed +them; and He bare them, and He carried them all the days of old" +(Isaiah lxiii. 9). And He is just the same to-day. To some He +says: "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah +xlviii 10), and nestling down into His will and "believing," they +"abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." + +He turns our eyes back upon Job in his loss and pain; upon Joseph +sold into Egyptian slavery; Daniel in the lions' den; the three +Hebrews in the burning fiery furnace, and Paul in prison and +shipwreck and manifold perils; and, showing us their steadfastness +and their final triumph, He prompts us to hope in God. + +When weakness of body overtakes us, He encourages us with such +assurances as these: "My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is +the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Psalm lxxiii. +26), and the words of Paul: "Though our outward man perish, yet +the inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. iv. 16). + +When old age comes creeping on apace, He has promised to meet the +need that our hope fail not. Listen to David! He prays: "Cast me +not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength +faileth.... Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake +me not; until I have showed Thy strength unto this generation, +and Thy power to every one that is to come" (Psalm lxxi. 9, 18). +And through Isaiah the Lord replies: "Even to your old age I am +He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I +will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you" (Isaiah xlvi. +4). And David cries out, "The righteous shall flourish like the +palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be +planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of +our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they +shall be fat and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright" +(Psalm xcii. 12-15). + +These are sample promises of which the Bible is full, and which +have been adapted by infinite wisdom and love to meet us at every +point of doubt and fear and need, that, in believing them, we may +have a steadfast and glad hope in God. He is pledged to help us. +He says: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for +I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, +I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness" +(Isaiah xli. 10). + +When all God's waves and billows seemed to sweep over David, and +his soul was bowed within him, three times he cried out: "Why art +thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? +Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His +countenance" (Psalm xlii. 5). And Jeremiah, remembering the +wormwood and the gall, and the deep mire of the dungeon into +which they had plunged him, and from which he had scarcely been +delivered, said: "It is good that a man should both hope and +quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord" (Lam. iii. 26). + +When the Holy Spirit is come, He brings to remembrance these +precious promises, and makes them living words; and, if we +believe, the whole heaven of our soul shall be lighted up with +abounding hope. Hallelujah! It is only through ignorance of God's +promises, or through weak and wavering faith, that hope is +dimmed. Oh, that we may heed the still small voice of the +Heavenly Comforter, and steadfastly, joyously believe! + + "My hope is built on nothing less + Than Jesus' blood and righteousness; + When all around my soul gives way, + He then is all my Hope and Stay." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XI. + +THE HOLY SPIRIT'S SUBSTITUTE FOR GOSSIP AND EVIL-SPEAKING. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +The other day I heard a man of God say: "We cannot bridle the +tongues of the people among whom we live: they will talk"; and by +talk he meant gossip and criticism and fault-finding. + + "You never can tell when you send a word-- + Like an arrow shot from a bow + By an archer blind--be it cruel or kind, + Just where it will chance to go. + It may pierce the breast of your dearest friend, + Tipped with its poison or balm: + To a stranger's heart in life's great mart + It may carry its pain or its calm." + +The wise mother, when she finds her little boy playing with a +sharp knife, or the looking-glass, or some dainty dish, does not +snatch it away with a slap on his cheek or harsh words, but +quietly and gently substitutes a safer and more interesting toy, +and so avoids a storm. + +A sensible father who finds his boy reading a book of dangerous +tendency, will kindly point out its character and substitute a +better book that is equally interesting. + +When children want to spend their evenings on the street, +thoughtful and intelligent parents will seek to make their +evenings at home more healthfully attractive. + +When a man seeks to rid his mind of evil and hurtful thoughts, he +will find it wise to follow Paul's exhortation to the Philippians: +"Brethren, whatsoever things are true,... honest,... just,... +pure,... lovely,... of good report;... if there be any praise, +think on these things" (Phil. iv. 8). + +Any man who faithfully, patiently, and persistently accepts this +programme of Paul's will find his evil thoughts vanishing away. + +And this is the Holy Spirit's method: He has a pleasant and safe +substitute for gossip and fault-finding and slander. + +Here it is: "Be filled with the Spirit: speaking to yourselves in +psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody +in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things +unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" +(Eph. v. 18-20). This is certainly a fruit of being filled with +the Spirit. + +Many years ago the Lord gave me a blessed revival in a little +village in which nearly every soul in the place, as well as +farmers from the surrounding country, were converted. One result +was that they now had no time for gossip and doubtful talk about +their neighbours. They were all talking about religion and +rejoicing in the things of the Lord. If they met each other on +the street, or in some shop or store, they praised the Lord, and +encouraged each other to press on in the heavenly way. If they +met a sinner, they tenderly besought him to be reconciled to God, +to give up his sins, "flee from the wrath to come," and start at +once for Heaven. If they met in each other's houses, they +gathered around the organ or the piano and sang hymns and songs, +and did not part till they had united in prayer. + +There was no criticising of their neighbours, no grumbling and +complaining about the weather, no fault-finding with their lot in +life, or their daily surroundings and circumstances. Their +conversation was joyous, cheerful, and helpful to one another. +Nor was it forced and out of place, but rather it was the +natural, spontaneous outflow of loving, humble, glad hearts +filled with the Spirit, in union with Jesus, and in love and +sympathy with their fellow-men. + +And this is, I think, our Heavenly Father's ideal of social and +spiritual intercourse for His children on earth. He would not +have us separate ourselves from each other and shut ourselves up +in convents and monasteries in austere asceticism on the one +hand, nor would He have us light and foolish, or fault-finding +and censorious on the other hand, but sociable, cheerful, and +full of tender, considerate love. + +On the day of Pentecost, when they were all filled with the Holy +Ghost and a multitude were converted, we read that "they, +continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking +bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and +singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the +people" (Acts ii. 46, 47). This is a sample of the brotherly love +and unity which our Heavenly Father would have throughout the +whole earth; but how the breath of gossip and evil-speaking would +have marred this heavenly fellowship and separated these "chief +friends"! + + "Lord! subdue our selfish will; + Each to each our tempers suit + By Thy modulating skill, + Heart to heart, as lute to lute." + +Let no one suppose, however, that the Holy Spirit accomplishes +this heavenly work by some overwhelming baptism which does away +with the need of our co-operation. He does not override us, but +works with us; and we must intelligently and determinedly work +with Him in this matter. + +People often fall into idle and hurtful gossip and evil-speaking, +not so much from ill-will, as from old habit, as a wagon falls +into a rut. Or they drift into it with the current of conversation +about them. Or they are beguiled into it by a desire to say +something, and be pleasant and entertaining. + +But when the Holy Spirit comes, He lifts us out of the old ruts, +and we must follow Him with care lest we fall into them again, +possibly never more to escape. He gives us life and power to stem +the adverse currents about us, but we must exercise ourselves not +to be swept downward by them. He does not destroy the desire to +please, but He subordinates it to the desire to help and bless, +and we must stir ourselves up to do this. + +When Miss Havergal was asked to sing and play before a worldly +company, she sang a sweet song about Jesus, and, without +displeasing anybody, greatly blessed the company. + +At a breakfast party John Fletcher told his experience so sweetly +and naturally that all hearts were stirred, the Holy Ghost fell +upon the company, and they ended with a glorious prayer meeting. + +William Bramwell used at meals to steadily and persistently turn +the conversation into spiritual channels to the blessing of all +who were present, so that they had two meals--one for the body +and one for the soul. + +To do this wisely and helpfully requires thought and prayer and a +fixed purpose, and a tender, loving heart filled with the Holy +Spirit. + +I know a mother who seeks to have a brief season of prayer and a +text of Scripture just before going to dinner to prepare her +heart to guide the conversation along spiritual highways. + +Are you careful and have you victory in this matter, my comrade? +If not, seek it just now in simple, trustful prayer, and the Lord +who loves you will surely answer, and will be your helper from +this time forth. He surely will. Believe just now, and henceforth +"let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ." + + "I ask Thee, ever blessed Lord, + That I may never speak a word, + Of envy born, or passion stirred. + + "First, true to Thee in heart and mind, + Then always to my neighbour kind, + By Thy good hand to good inclined. + + "Oh, save from words that bear a sting, + That pain to any brother bring: + Inbreathe Thy calm in everything. + + "Let love within my heart prevail, + To rule my words when thoughts assail, + That, hid in Thee, I may not fail. + + "I know, my Lord, Thy power within + Can save from all the power of sin; + In Thee let every word begin. + + "Should I be silent? Keep me still, + Glad waiting on my Master's will: + Thy message through my lips fulfil. + + "Give me Thy words when I should speak, + For words of Thine are never weak, + But break the proud, but raise the meek. + + "Into Thy lips all grace is poured, + Speak Thou through me, Eternal Word, + Of thought, of heart, of lips the Lord." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XII. + +THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +God is love, and the Holy Spirit is ceaselessly striving to make +this love known in our hearts, work out God's purposes of love in +our lives, and transform and transfigure our character by love. +And so we are solemnly warned against resisting the Spirit, and +almost tearfully and always tenderly exhorted to "quench not the +Spirit," and to "grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby," +says the Apostle, "ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." + +There is one great sin against which Jesus warned the Jews, as a +sin never to be forgiven in this world nor in that which is to +come. That was blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. + +That there is such a sin, Jesus teaches in Matthew xii. 31, 32, +Mark iii. 28-30, and Luke xii. 10. And it may be that this is the +sin referred to in Hebrews vi. 4-6; x. 29. + +Since many of God's dear children have fallen into dreadful +distress through fear that they had committed this sin, it may be +helpful for us to study carefully as to what constitutes it. + +Jesus was casting out devils, and Mark tells us that "the scribes +which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by +the prince of the devils casteth He out devils." To this Jesus +replied with gracious kindness and searching logic: "How can +Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, +that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against +itself, it cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself and +be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter +into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he will +first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house." + +In this quiet reply we see that Jesus does not rail against them, +nor flatly deny their base assertion that He does His miracles by +the power of the Devil, but shows how logically false must be +their statement. And then, with grave authority, and, I think, +with solemn tenderness in His voice and in His eyes, He adds, +"Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons +of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: +but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never +forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation"; or, as the +Revised Version puts it, "is guilty of an eternal sin"; and then +Mark adds, "because they said, He hath an unclean spirit" (Mark +iii. 22-30). + +Jesus came into the world to reveal God's truth and love to men, +and to save them, and men are saved by believing in Him. But how +could the men of His day, who saw Him working at the carpenter's +bench, and living the life of an ordinary man of humble toil and +daily temptation and trial, believe His stupendous claim to be +the only-begotten Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and the +final Judge of all men? Any wilful and proud impostor could make +such a claim. But men _could_ not and _ought_ not to believe +such an assertion unless the claim were supported by ungainsayable +evidence. This evidence Jesus began to give, not only in the holy +life which He lived and the pure Gospel He preached, but in the +miracles He wrought, the blind eyes He opened, the sick He healed, +the hungry thousands He fed, the seas He stilled, the dead He +raised to life again, and the devils He cast out of bound and +harassed souls. + +The Scribes and Pharisees witnessed these miracles, and were +compelled to admit these signs and wonders. Nicodemus, one of +their number, said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a +teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou +doest, except God be with him" (John iii. 2). Would they now +admit His claim to be the Son of God, their promised and +long-looked-for Messiah? They were thoughtful men and very religious, +but not spiritual. The Gospel He preached was Spirit and life; it +appealed to their conscience and revealed their sin, and to +acknowledge Him was to admit that they themselves were wrong. It +meant submission to His authority, the surrender of their wills, +and a change of front in their whole inner and outer life. This +meant moral and spiritual revolution in each man's heart and +life, and to this they would not submit. And so to avoid such +plain inconsistency, they must discredit His miracles; and since +they could not deny them, they declared that He wrought them by +the power of the Devil. + +Jesus worked these signs and wonders by the power of the Holy +Spirit, that he might win their confidence, and that they might +reasonably believe and be saved. But they refused to believe, and +in their malignant obstinacy heaped scorn upon Him, accusing Him +of being in league with the Devil; and how could they be saved? +This was the sin against the Holy Spirit against which Jesus +warned them. It was not so much one act of sin, as a deep-seated, +stubborn rebellion against God that led them to choose darkness +rather than light, and so to blaspheme against the Spirit of +truth and light. It was sin full and ripe and ready for the +harvest. + +Some one has said that "this sin cannot be forgiven, not because +God is unwilling to forgive, but because one who thus sins +against the Holy Spirit has put himself where no power can soften +his heart or change his nature. A man may misuse his eyes and yet +see; but whosoever puts them out can never see again. One may +misdirect his compass, and turn it aside from the North Pole by a +magnet or piece of iron, and it may recover and point right +again; but whosoever destroys the compass itself has lost his +guide at sea." + +Many of God's dear children, honest souls, have been persuaded +that they have committed this awful sin. Indeed, I once thought +that I myself had done so, and for twenty-eight days I felt that, +like Jonah, I was "in the belly of hell." But God, in love and +tender mercy, drew me out of the horrible pit of doubt and fear, +and showed me that this is a sin committed only by those who, in +spite of all evidence, harden their hearts in unbelief, and to +shield themselves in their sins deny and blaspheme the Lord. + +Dr. Daniel Steele tells of a Jew who was asked, "Is it that you +_cannot_, or that you _will not_ believe?" The Jew passionately +replied, "We _will_ not, we _will_ not believe." + +This was wilful refusal and rejection of light, and in that +direction lies hardness of heart beyond recovery, fullness of +sin, and final impenitence, which are unpardonable. + +Doubtless many through resistance to the Holy Spirit come to this +awful state of heart; but those troubled, anxious souls who think +they have committed this sin are not usually among the number. + +An Army Officer in Canada was in the midst of a glorious revival, +when one night a gentleman arose and with deep emotion urged the +young people present to yield themselves to God, accept Jesus as +their Saviour, and receive the Holy Spirit. He told them that he +had once been a Christian, but that he had not walked in the +light, and, consequently, had sinned against the Holy Spirit, and +could never more be pardoned. Then, with all earnest tenderness, +he exhorted them to be warned by his sad state, and not to harden +their hearts against the gracious influences, and entreated them +to yield to the Saviour. Suddenly the scales of doubt dropped +from his eyes, and he saw that he had not in his inmost heart +rejected Jesus; that he had not committed the unpardonable sin; +that + + "The love of God is broader + Than the measure of man's mind: + And the heart of the Eternal + Is most wonderfully kind." + +And in an instant his heart was filled with light and love and +peace, and sweet assurance that Christ Jesus was his Saviour, +even his. + +In one meeting, I have known three people who thought they had +committed this sin, and were bowed with grief and fear, to come +to the penitent-form and find deliverance. + +The poet Cowper was plunged into unutterable gloom by the +conviction that he had committed this awful sin; but God tenderly +brought him into the light and sweet comforts of the Holy Spirit +again, and doubtless it was in the sense of such lovingkindness +that he wrote: + + "There is a fountain filled with blood, + Drawn from Emanuel's veins; + And sinners plunged beneath that flood + Lose all their guilty stains." + +John Bunyan was also afflicted with horrible fears that he had +committed the unpardonable sin, and in his little book entitled, +"Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners" (a book which I would +earnestly recommend to all soul-winners), he tells how he was +delivered from his doubts and fears and was filled once more with +the joy of the Lord. There are portions of his "Pilgrim's +Progress" which are to be interpreted in the light of this +grievous experience. + +Those who think they have committed this sin may generally be +assured that they have not. + +1. Their hearts are usually very tender, while this sin must +harden the heart past all feeling. + +2. They are full of sorrow and shame for having neglected God's +grace and trifled with the Saviour's dying words, but such sorrow +could not exist in a heart so fully given over to sin that pardon +was impossible. + +3. God says, "Whosoever will may come"; and if they find it in +their hearts to come, they will not be cast out, but freely +pardoned and received with loving kindness through the merits of +Jesus' blood. God's promise will not fail, His faithfulness is +established in the heavens. Bless His holy name! Those who have +committed this sin are full of evil, and do not care to come, and +will not, and, therefore, are never pardoned. Their sin is +eternal. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XIII. + +OFFENCES AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +One day, in a fit of boyish temper, I spoke hot words of anger, +somewhat unjustly, against another person, and this deeply +grieved my mother. She said but little, and though her sweet face +has mouldered many years beneath the Southern daisies, her look +of grief I can still see across the years of a third of a +century. And that is the one sad memory of my childhood. A +stranger might have been amused or incensed at my words, but +mother was grieved--grieved to her heart by my lack of generous, +self-forgetful, thoughtful love. + +We can anger a stranger or an enemy, but it is only a friend we +grieve. The Holy Spirit is such a Friend, more tender and +faithful than a mother; and shall we carelessly offend Him, and +estrange ourselves from Him in spite of His love? + +There is a sense in which every sin is against the Holy Ghost. Of +course, not every such sin is unpardonable, but the tendency of +all sin is in that direction, and we are only safe as we avoid +the very beginnings of sin. Only as we "walk in the Spirit" are +we "free from the law of sin and death" (Romans viii. 2). +Therefore, it is infinitely important that we beware of offences +against the Spirit, "lest any of you be hardened through the +deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews iii. 13). + +Grieving the Holy Spirit is a very common and a very sad offence +of professing Christians, and it is to this that must be +attributed much of the weakness and ignorance and joylessness of +so many followers of Christ. + +And He is grieved, as was my mother, by the unloving speech and +spirit of God's children. + +In his letters to the Ephesians, Paul says, "Let no corrupt +communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good +to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the +hearers." And then he adds: "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of +God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all +bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, +be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to +another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for +Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of +God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath +loved us, and hath given Himself for us" (Eph. iv. 29-v. 2). + +What does Paul teach us here? That it is not by some huge +wickedness, some Judas-like betrayal, some tempting and lying to +the Holy Ghost, as did Ananias and Sapphira (Acts v. 1-9), that +we grieve Him, but by that which most people count little and +unimportant; by talk that corrupts instead of blessing and +building up those that hear, by gossip, by bitterness, and +uncharitable criticisms and fault-findings. This was the sin of +the elder son when the prodigal returned, and it was by this he +pierced with grief the kind old father's heart. + +By getting in a rage, by loud, angry talking and evil-speaking +and petty malice, by unkindness and hard-heartedness and an +unforgiving spirit, we grieve Him. In a word, by not walking +through the world as in our Father's house, and among our +neighbours and friends as among His dear children; by not loving +tenderly and making kindly sacrifices for one another, He is +grieved. And this is not a matter of little importance. It may +have sadly momentous consequences. + +It is a bitter, cruel, and often an irreparable thing to trifle +with a valuable earthly friendship. How much more when the +friendship is heavenly? when the Friend is our Lord and Saviour, +our Creator and Redeemer, our Governor and Judge, our Teacher, +Guide, and God? When we trifle with a friend's wishes--especially +when such wishes are all in perfect harmony with and for our +highest possible good--we may not estrange the friend from us, +but we estrange ourselves from our friend. Our hearts grow cold +toward him, though his heart may be breaking with longing toward +us. + +The more Saul ill-treated David, the more he hated David. + +Such estrangement may lead, little by little, to yet greater sin, +to strange hardness of heart, to doubts and unbelief, and +backslidings and denial of the Lord. + +The cure for all this is a clean heart full of sweet and gentle, +self-forgetful, generous love. Then we shall be "followers of God +as dear children," then we shall "walk in love as Christ loved +us, and gave Himself for us." + +But there is another offence, that of quenching the Spirit, which +accounts for the comparative darkness and deadness of many of +God's children. + +In I Thess. v. 16-19 the Apostle says: "Rejoice evermore. Pray +without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will +of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit." + +When will the Lord's dear children learn that the religion of +Jesus is a lowly thing, and that it is the little foxes that +spoil the vines? Does not the Apostle here teach that it is not +by some desperate, dastardly deed that we quench the Spirit, but +simply by neglecting to rejoice and pray, and give thanks at all +times and for all things? + +It is not necessary to blot the sun out of the heavens to keep +the sunlight out of your house--just close the blinds and draw +the curtains; nor do you pour barrels of water on the flames to +quench the fire--just shut off the draught; nor do you dynamite +the city reservoir and destroy all the mains and pipes to cut off +your supply of sparkling water, but just refrain from turning on +the main. + +So you do not need to do some great evil, some deadly sin, to +quench the Spirit. Just cease to rejoice, through fear of man and +of being peculiar; be prim and proper as a white and polished +gravestone; let gushing joy be curbed; neglect to pray when you +feel a gentle pull in your heart to get alone with the Lord; omit +giving hearty thanks for all God's tender mercies, faithful +discipline and loving chastenings, and soon you will find the +Spirit quenched. He will no longer spring up joyously like a well +of living water within you. + +But give the Spirit a vent, an opening, a chance, and He will +rise within you and flood your soul with light and love and joy. + +Some years ago a sanctified woman of clear experience went alone +to keep her daily hour with God; but, to her surprise, it seemed +that she could not find Him, either in prayer or in His word. She +searched her heart for evidence of sin, but the Spirit showed her +nothing contrary to God in her mind, heart, or will. She searched +her memory for any breach of covenant, any broken vows, any +neglect, any omission, but could find none. + +Then she asked the Lord to show her if there were any duty +unfulfilled, any command unnoticed, which she might perform, and +quick as thought came the often-read words, "Rejoice evermore." +"Have you done that this morning?" + +She had not. It had been a busy morning, and a well-spent one, +but so far there had been no definite rejoicing in her heart, +though the manifold riches and ground for joy of all Christians +were hers. + +At once she began to count her blessings and thank the Lord for +each one, and rejoice in Him for all the way He had led her, and +the gifts He had bestowed, and in a very few minutes the Lord +stood revealed to her spiritual consciousness. + +She had not committed sin, nor resisted the Spirit, but a failure +to rejoice in Him who had daily loaded her with benefits (Psalm +lxviii. 19) had in a measure quenched the Spirit. She had not +turned the main, and so her soul was not flooded with living +waters. She had not remembered the command: "Thou shalt rejoice +before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hand +unto." But that morning she learned a lifelong lesson, and she +has ever since safeguarded her soul by obeying the many commands +to "Rejoice in the Lord." + +Grieving and quenching the Spirit will not only leave barren and +desolate an individual soul, but it will do so for a Corps, a +church, a community, a whole nation or continent. We see this +illustrated on a large scale by the long and weary Dark Ages, +when the light of the Gospel was almost extinguished, and only +here and there was the darkness broken by the torch of truth held +aloft by some humble, suffering soul that had wept and prayed, +and through painful struggles had found the light. + +We see it also in those Corps, churches, communities, and +countries where revivals are unknown, or are a thing of the past, +where souls are not born into the Kingdom, and where there is no +joyous shout of victory among the people of God. + +Grieving and quenching the Spirit may be done unintentionally by +lack of thought and prayer and hearty devotion to the Lord Jesus; +but they prepare the way and lead to intentional and positive +resistance to the Spirit. + +To resist the Spirit is to fight against Him. + +The sinner who, listening to the Gospel invitation, and convicted +of sin, refuses to submit to God in true repentance and faith in +Jesus, is resisting the Holy Spirit. We have bold and striking +historical illustrations of the danger of resisting the Holy +Spirit in the disasters which befell Pharaoh, and the terrible +calamities which came upon Jerusalem, and have for twenty +centuries followed the Jews. + +The ten plagues that came upon Pharaoh and his people were ten +opportunities and open doors into God's favour and fellowship, +which they themselves shut by their stubborn resistance, only to +be overtaken by dreadful catastrophe. + +To the Jews, Stephen said: "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost" +(Acts vii. 51); and the siege and fall of Jerusalem, and the +butchery and banishment and enslavement of its inhabitants, and +all the woes that came upon the Jews, followed their rejection of +Jesus and the hardness of heart and spiritual blindness which +swiftly overtook them when they resisted all the loving efforts +and entreaties of His disciples baptised with the Holy Spirit. + +And what on a large scale befalls nations and people, on a small +scale also befalls individuals. Those that receive and obey the +Lord are enlightened and blessed and saved; those that resist and +reject Him are sadly left to themselves and surely swallowed up +in destruction. + +Likewise the professing Christian who hears of heart-holiness and +cleansing from all sin as a blessing he may now have by faith, +and, convicted of his need of the blessing and of God's desire +and willingness to bestow it upon him now, refuses to seek it in +whole-hearted affectionate consecration and faith, is resisting +the Holy Spirit. And such resistance imperils the soul beyond all +possible computation. + +We see an example of this in the Israelites who were brought out +of Egypt with signs and wonders, and led through the Red Sea and +the wilderness to the borders of Canaan, but, forgetting, +refused to go over into the land. In this they resisted the Holy +Spirit in His leadings as surely as did Pharaoh, and with quite +as disastrous results to themselves, perishing in their evil way. + +For their sin was as much greater than his as their light +exceeded his. + +Hundreds of years later, Isaiah, writing of this time, says: "In +all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His +presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed +them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But +they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit; therefore He was turned +to be their enemy, and He fought against them" (Isaiah lxiii. 9, +10). + +We see from this that Christians must beware and watch and pray +and walk softly with the Lord in glad obedience and childlike +faith, if they would escape the darkness and dryness that result +from grieving and quenching the Spirit, and the dangers that +surely come from resisting Him. + + "Arm me with jealous care, + As in Thy sight to live; + And, Oh, Thy servant, Lord, prepare, + A strict account to give. + + "Help me to watch and pray, + And on Thyself rely, + Assured if I my trust betray, + I shall for ever die." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XIV. + +THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SOUND DOCTRINE. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Is Jesus Christ divine? Is the Bible an inspired Book? Is man a +fallen creature who can be saved only through the suffering and +sacrifice of the Creator? Will there be a resurrection of the +dead, and a day in which God will judge all the world by the Man +Christ Jesus? Is Satan a personal being, and is there a Hell in +which the wicked will be for ever punished? + +These are great doctrines which have been held and taught by His +followers since the days of Jesus and His Apostles, and yet they +are ever being attacked and denied. + +Are they true? Or are they only fancies and falsehoods, or +figures of speech and distortions of truth? How can we find truth +and know it? + +Jesus said, "When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide +you into all truth" (John xvi. 13). + +What truth? Not the truth of the multiplication table, or of +physical science, or art, or secular history, but spiritual +truth--the truth about God and His will and character, and our +relations to Him in Christ--that truth which is necessary to +salvation and holiness--into all this truth the Holy Spirit will +guide us. "He shall teach you all things," said Jesus (John xiv. +26). + +How, then, shall we escape error and be "sound in doctrine"? Only +by the help of the Holy Spirit. + +How do we know Jesus Christ is divine? Because the Bible tells us +so? Infinitely precious and important is this revelation in the +Bible; but not by this do we know it. Because the Church teaches +it in her creed, and we have heard it from the catechism? Nothing +taught in any creed or catechism is of more vital importance; but +neither by this do we know it. + +How then? Listen to Paul: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, +but by the Holy Ghost" (I Cor. xii. 3). "No man," says Paul. Then +learning it from the Bible or catechism is not to know it except +as the parrot might know it; but every man is to be taught this +by the Holy Spirit, if he is to really know it. + +Then it is not a revelation made once for all, and only to the +men who walked and talked with Jesus, but it is a spiritual +revelation made anew to each believing heart that in penitence +seeks Him and so meets the conditions of such a revelation. + +Then the poor, degraded, ignorant outcast at The Army penitent-form +in the slums of London or Chicago, who never heard of a +creed, and the ebony African and dusky Indian, who never saw the +inside of a Bible, may have Christ revealed in him, and know by +the revelation of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is Lord. + +"It pleased God... to reveal His Son in me," wrote Paul (Gal. i. +15, 16); and again, "Christ liveth in me" (Gal. ii. 20); and +again, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again +until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. iv. 19); as though Christ is +to be spiritually formed in the heart of each believer by the +operation of the Holy Spirit, as He was physically formed in the +womb of Mary by the same Spirit (Luke i. 35); and again, "The +mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but +now is made manifest to His saints,... which is Christ in you, +the hope of glory" (Col. i. 26, 27); "That Christ may dwell in +your hearts by faith" (Eph. iii. 17); "Examine yourselves, +whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not +your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be +reprobates" (2 Cor. xiii. 5)? + +"At that day," said Jesus, when making His great promise of the +Comforter to His disciples, "At that day ye shall know that I am +in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you" (John xiv. 20); and +again, in His great prayer, He said: "I have declared unto them +Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast +loved Me may be in them, and I in them." + +It is this ever-recurring revelation to penitent, believing +hearts, by the agency of the ever-present Holy Spirit, that makes +faith in Jesus Christ living and invincible. "I know He is Lord, +for He saves my soul from sin, and He saves me now," is an +argument that rationalism and unbelief cannot answer nor +overthrow, and so long as there are men in the world who can say +this, faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ is secure; and this +experience and witness come by the Holy Ghost. + + "I worship Thee, O Holy Ghost, + I love to worship Thee; + My risen Lord for aye were lost + But for Thy company." + +And so it is by the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit that +all saving truth becomes vital to us. + +It is He that makes the Bible a living Book; it is He that +convinces the world of judgment (John xvi. 8-11); it is He that +makes men certain that there is a Heaven of surpassing and +enduring glory and joy, and a Hell of endless sorrow and woe for +those who sin away their day of grace and die in impenitence. + +Who have been the mightiest and most faithful preachers of the +gloom and terror and pain of a perpetual Hell? those who have +been the mightiest and most effective preachers of God's +compassionate love. + +In all periods of great revival, when men seemed to live on the +borderland, and in the vision of eternity, Hell has been +preached. The leaders in these revivals have been men of prayer +and faith and consuming love, but they have been men who knew +"the terrors of the Lord," and, therefore, they preached the +judgments of God, and they proved that the law with its penalties +is a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ (Gal. iii. 24). Fox, the +Quaker; Bunyan, the Baptist; Baxter, the Puritan; Wesley and +Fletcher, and Whitefield and Caughey, the Methodists; Finney, the +Presbyterian; Edwards and Moody, the Congregationalists; and +General Booth, the Salvationist, have preached it, not savagely, +but tenderly and faithfully, as a mother might warn her child +against some great danger that would surely follow careless and +selfish wrong-doing. + +What men have loved and laboured and sacrificed as these men? +Their hearts have been a flaming furnace of love and devotion to +God, and an over-flowing fountain of love and compassion for men; +but just in proportion as they have discovered God's love and +pity for the sinner, so have they discovered His wrath against +sin and all obstinate wrong-doing; and as they have caught +glimpses of Heaven and declared its joys and everlasting glories +to men, so they have seen Hell, with its endless punishment, and +with trembling voice and overflowing eyes have they warned men to +"flee from the wrath to come." + +Were these men, throbbing with spiritual life and consumed with +devotion to the Kingdom of God and the everlasting well-being of +their fellowmen, led to this belief by the Spirit of Truth, or +were they misled? Is it the prophet, weeping and praying and +preaching and fighting for God and men, to whom the Spirit has +always first spoken and revealed the things of God? Or is it the +philosopher, or dry-as-dust theologian, or the popular preacher +of smooth things, sitting in his study and among his books, +spinning out of his own mind his conceits concerning God's plan +and purpose in the universe? + +Does Seneca or the Psalmist, Plato or Paul, Rousseau or Wesley, +the idolised, high-salaried, soft-raimented preacher of a wide +gate and broad way to life and Heaven, or the veteran soul-winner, +General Booth, more clearly make known the mind of God in +matters that are spiritual? + +"The things of the Spirit... are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. +ii. 14), says Paul. It is not by searching and philosophising +that these things are found out, but by revelation. "Flesh and +blood hath not revealed it unto thee," said Jesus to Peter, "but +My Father which is in Heaven" (Matthew xvi. 17). The great +teacher of truth is the Spirit of Truth, and the only safe +expounders and guardians of sound doctrine are men filled with +the Holy Ghost. + +Study and research have their place, and an important place; but +in spiritual things they will be no avail unless prosecuted by +spiritual men. As well might men blind from birth attempt to +study the starry heavens, and men born deaf undertake to expound +and criticise the harmonies of Bach and Beethoven. Men must see +and hear to speak and write intelligently on such subjects. And +so men must be spiritually enlightened to understand spiritual +truth. + +The greatest danger to any religious organisation is that a body +of men should arise in its ranks, and hold its positions of +trust, who have learned its great fundamental doctrines by rote +out of the catechism, but have no experimental knowledge of their +truth inwrought by the mighty anointing of the Holy Ghost, and +who are destitute of "an unction from the Holy One," by which, +says John, "ye know all things" (1 John ii. 20, 27). + +Why do men deny the divinity of Jesus Christ? Because they have +never placed themselves in that relation to the Spirit, and met +those unchanging conditions that would enable Him to reveal Jesus +to them as Saviour and Lord. + +Why do men dispute the inspiration of the Scriptures? Because the +Holy Ghost, who inspired "holy men of God" to write the Book (2 +Peter i. 21), hides its spiritual sense from unspiritual and +unholy men. + +Why do men doubt a Day of Judgment, and a state of everlasting +doom? Because they have never been bowed and broken and crushed +beneath the weight of their sin, and by a sense of guilt and +separation from a holy God that can only be removed by faith in +His dying Son. + +A sportsman lost his way in a pitiless storm on a black and +starless night. Suddenly his horse drew back and refused to take +another step. He urged it forward, but it only threw itself back +upon its haunches. Just then a vivid flash of lightning revealed +a great precipice upon the brink of which he stood. It was but an +instant, and then the pitchy blackness hid it again from view. +But he turned his horse and anxiously rode away from the terrible +danger. + +A distinguished professor of religion said to me some time ago, +"I dislike, I abhor, the doctrine of Hell"; and then after a +while added, "But three times in my life I have seen that there +was eternal separation from God and an everlasting Hell for me, +if I walked not in the way God was calling me to go." + +Into the blackness of the sinner's night the Holy Spirit, who is +patiently and compassionately seeking the salvation of all men, +flashes a light that gives him a glimpse of eternal things which, +heeded, would lead to the sweet peace and security of eternal +day. For when the Holy Spirit is heeded and honoured, the night +passes, the shadows flee away, the day dawns, "the Sun of +Righteousness arises with healing in His wings," and, saved and +sanctified, men walk in His light in safety and joy. Doctrines +which before were repellent to the carnal mind, and but +foolishness, or a stumbling-block to the heart of unbelief, now +become precious and satisfying to the soul; and truths which +before were hid in impenetrable darkness, or seen only as through +dense gloom and fog, are now seen clearly as in the light of +broad day. + + "Hold thou the faith that Christ is Lord, + God over all, who died and rose; + And everlasting life bestows + On all who hear the living word. + For thee His life-blood He out-poured, + His Spirit sets thy spirit free; + Hold thou the faith--He dwells in thee, + And thou in Him, and Christ is Lord!" + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XV. + +PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +An important work of the Holy Spirit is to teach us how to pray, +instruct us what to pray for, and inspire us to pray earnestly, +without ceasing, and in faith, for the things we desire and the +things that are dear to the heart of the Lord. + +In a familiar verse, the poet Montgomery says: + + "Prayer is the burden of a sigh, + The falling of a tear, + The upward glancing of the eye, + When none but God is near." + +And no doubt he is right. Prayer is exceedingly simple. The +faintest cry for help, a whisper for mercy, is prayer. But when +the Holy Spirit comes and fills the soul with His blessed +presence, prayer becomes more than a cry; it ceases to be a +feeble request, and often becomes a strife (Romans xv. 30; Col. +iv. 12) for greater things, a conflict, an invincible argument, a +wrestling with God, and through it men enter into the Divine +councils and rise into a blessed and responsible fellowship in +some important sense with the Father and the Son in the moral +government of the world. + +It was in this spirit and fellowship that Abraham prayed for +Sodom (Genesis xviii. 23-32); that Moses interceded for Israel, +and stood between them and God's hot displeasure (Exodus xxxii. +7-14); and that Elijah prevailed to shut up the heavens for three +years and six months, and then again prevailed in his prayer for +rain. + +God would have us come to Him not only as a foolish and ignorant +child comes, but as an ambassador to his home government; as a +full-grown son who has become of age and entered into partnership +with his father; as a bride who is one in all interests and affections +with the bridegroom. + +He would have us "come boldly to the throne of grace" with a +well-reasoned and Scriptural understanding of what we desire, and +with a purpose to "ask," "seek," and "knock" till we get the +thing we wish, being assured that it is according to His will; +and this boldness is not inconsistent with the profoundest +humility and a sense of utter dependence; indeed, it is always +accompanied by self-distrust and humble reliance upon the merits +of Jesus, else it is but presumption and unsanctified conceit. +This union of assurance and humility, of boldness and dependence, +can be secured only by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and only +so can one be prepared and fitted for such prayer. + +Three great obstacles hinder mighty prayer: + +1. selfishness; 2, unbelief; 3, the darkness of ignorance and +foolishness. The baptism with the Spirit sweeps away these +obstacles and brings in the three great essentials to prayer--1, +faith; 2, love, Divine love; 3, the light of heavenly knowledge +and wisdom. + +1. Selfishness must be cast out by the incoming of love. The +ambassador must not be seeking personal ends, but the interests +of his government and the people he represents; the son must not +be seeking private gain, but the common prosperity of the +partnership in which he will fully and lawfully share; the bride +must not forget him to whom she belongs, and seek separate ends, +but in all ways identify herself with her husband and his +interests. + +So the child of God must come in prayer, unselfishly. + +It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our co-operation and glad +consent, to search and destroy selfishness out of our hearts, and +fill them with pure love to God and man. And when this is done we +shall not then be asking for things amiss to consume them upon +our lusts, to gratify our appetites, or pride, or ambition, or +ease, or vain-glory. We shall seek only the glory of our Lord and +the common good of our fellow-men, in which, as co-workers and +partners, we shall have a common share. If we ask for success, it +is not that we may be exalted, but that God may be glorified; +that Jesus may secure the purchase of His blood; that men may be +saved, and the Kingdom of Heaven be established upon earth. + +If we ask for daily bread, it is not that we may be full, but +that we may be fitted for daily duty. If we ask for health, it is +not alone that we may be free from pain and filled with physical +comfort, but that we may be spent "in publishing the sinner's +Friend," in fulfilling the work for which God has placed us here. + +2. Unbelief must be destroyed. Doubt paralyzes prayer. Unbelief +quenches the spirit of intercession. Only as the eye of faith +sees our Father God upon the Throne guaranteeing to us rights and +privileges by the blood of His Son, and inviting us to come +without fear, and make our wants known, does prayer rise from the +commonplace to the sublime; does it cease to be a feeble, timid +cry, and become a mighty spiritual force, moving God Himself in +the interests which it seeks. + +Men, wise with the wisdom of this world, but poor and naked and +blind and foolish in matters of faith, ask: "Will God change His +plans at the request of man?" And we answer, "Yes," since many of +God's plans are made contingent upon the prayers of His people, +and He has ordered that prayer offered in faith, according to His +will, revealed in His word, shall be one of the controlling +factors in His government of men. + +Is it God's will that the tides of the Atlantic and Pacific +should sweep across the Isthmus of Panama? That men should run +under the Alps? That thoughts and words should be winged across +the ocean without any visible or tangible medium? Yes; it is His +will, if men will it, and work to these ends in harmony with His +great physical laws. So in the spiritual world there are wonders +wrought by prayer, and God wills the will of His people when they +come to Him in faith and love. + +What else is meant by such promises and assurances as these: +"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye +pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark +xi. 24); "The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in +its working. Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he +prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the +earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and +the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit" +(James v. 16-18. American Revision). + +The Holy Spirit dwelling within the heart helps us to understand +the things we may pray for, and the heart that is full of love +and loyalty to God only wants what is lawful. This is mystery to +people who are under the dominion of selfishness and the darkness +of unbelief, but it is a soul-thrilling fact to those who are +filled with the Holy Ghost. + +"What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?" asked Jesus of the +blind man (Luke xviii. 41). + +He had respect to the will of the blind man, and granted his +request, seeing he had faith. And He still has respect to the +vigorous, sanctified will of His people--the will that has been +subdued by consecration and faith into loving union with His +will. + +The Lord answered Abraham on behalf of Sodom till he ceased to +ask. + +"The Lord has had His way so long with Hudson Taylor," said a +friend, "that now, Hudson Taylor can have his way with the Lord." + +Adoniram Judson lay sick with a fatal illness in far-away Burmah. +His wife read to him an account of the conversion of a number of +Jews in Constantinople through some of his writings. For a while +the sick man was silent, and then he spoke with awe, telling his +wife that for years he had prayed that he might be used in some +way to bless the Jews, yet never having seen any evidence that +his prayers were answered; but now, after many years and from far +away, the evidence of answer had come. And then, after further +silence, he spoke with deep emotion, saying that he had never +prayed a prayer for the glory of God and the good of men but +that, sooner or later, even though for the time being he had +forgotten, he found that God had not forgotten, but had +remembered and patiently worked to answer his prayer. + +Oh, the faithfulness of God! He means it when He makes promises +and exhorts and urges and commands us to pray. It is not His +purpose to mock us, but to answer and "to do exceeding abundantly +above all that we ask or think." Bless His holy Name! + +3. Knowledge and wisdom must take the place of foolish ignorance. +Paul says, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought," and +then adds, "But the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us +with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans viii. 26). If my +little child asks for a glittering razor, I refuse its request; +but when my full-grown son asks for one I grant it. So God cannot +wisely answer some prayers, for they are foolish or untimely. +Hence, we need not love and faith only, but wisdom and knowledge, +that we may ask according to the will of God. + +It is this that Paul has in mind when he says that he will not +only pray with the Spirit, but "I will pray with the understanding +also" (I Cor. xiv. 15). Men should think before they pray, and +study that they may pray wisely. + +Now, when the Holy Spirit comes there pours into the soul not +only a tide of love and simple faith, but a flood of light as +well, and prayer becomes not only earnest, but intelligent also. +And this intelligence increases, as, under the leadership of the +Holy Spirit, the word of God is studied, and its heavenly truths +and principles are grasped and assimilated. + +It is thus men come to know God and become His friends, whose +prayers He will assist and will not deny. + +Such men talk with God as friend with friend, and the Holy Spirit +helps their infirmities; encourages them to urge their prayer in +faith; teaches them to reason with God; enables them to come +boldly in the name of Jesus, when oppressed with a sense of their +own insignificance and unworthiness; and, when words fail them +and they scarcely know how to voice their desires, He intercedes +within them with unutterable groanings, according to the will of +God (Romans viii. 26, 27; 1 Cor. ii. 11). + +A young man felt called to mission work in China, but his mother +offered strong opposition to his going. An agent of the mission, +knowing the need of the work, and vexed with the mother, one day +laid the case before Hudson Taylor. + +"Mr. Taylor," said he, "listened patiently and lovingly to all I +had to say, and then gently suggested our praying about it. Such +a prayer I have never heard before! It seemed to me more like a +conversation with a trusted friend whose advice he was seeking. +He talked the matter over with the Friend from every point of +view--from the side of the young man, from the side of China's +needs, from the side of the mother, and her natural feelings, and +also from my side. It was a revelation to me. I saw that prayer +did not mean merely asking for things, much less asking for +things to be carried out by God according to our ideas; but that +it means _communion_, fellowship, partnership, with our +Heavenly Father. And when our will is really blended with His, +what liberty we may have in asking for what we want!" + +Hallelujah! + + "My soul, ask what thou wilt, + Thou canst not be too bold; + Since His own blood for thee He spilt, + What else can He withhold?" + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XVI. + +CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANOINTED PREACHER. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Since God saves men by "the foolishness of preaching," the +preacher has an infinitely important work, and he must be fitted +for it. But what can fit a man for such sacred work? Not +education alone, not knowledge of books, not gifts of speech, not +winsome manners, nor a magnetic voice, nor a commanding presence, +but only God. The preacher must be more than a man--he must be a +man plus the Holy Ghost. + +Paul was such a man. He was full of the Holy Spirit, and in +studying his life and ministry we get a life-sized portrait of an +anointed preacher living, fighting, preaching, praying, +suffering, triumphing, and dying in the power and light and glory +of the indwelling Spirit. + +In the second chapter of the First of Thessalonians he gives us a +picture of his character and ministry which were formed and +inspired by the Holy Spirit, a sample of His workmanship, and an +example for all Gospel preachers. + +At Philippi he had been terribly beaten with stripes on his bare +back, and roughly thrust into the inner dungeon, and his feet +were made fast in the stocks; but that did not break nor quench +his spirit. Love burned in his heart, and his joy in the Lord +brimmed full and bubbled over, and at midnight, in the damp, +dark, loathsome dungeon, he and Silas, his comrade in service and +suffering, "prayed and sang praises unto God." God answered with +an earthquake, and the jailer and his household got gloriously +converted. Paul was set free and went at once to Thessalonica, +where, regardless of the shameful way he had been treated at +Philippi, he preached the Gospel boldly, and a blessed revival +followed with many converts; but persecution arose, and Paul had +again to flee. His heart, however, was continually turning back +to these converts, and at last he sat down and wrote them this +letter. From this we learn that-- + +1. He was a _joyful_ preacher. He was no pessimist, croaking +out doleful prophecies and lamentations and bitter criticisms. He +was full of the joy of the Lord. It was not the joy that comes +from good health, a pleasant home, plenty of money, wholesome +food, numerous and smiling friends, and sunny, favouring skies; +but a deep, springing fountain of solemn, gladdening joy that +abounded and overflowed in pain and weariness, in filthy, noisome +surroundings, in loneliness and poverty, and danger and bitter +persecutions. No earth-born trial could quench it, for it was +Heaven-born; it was "the joy of the Lord" poured into his heart +with the Holy Spirit. + +2. He was a _bold_ preacher. Worldly prudence would have +constrained him to go softly at Thessalonica, after his +experience at Philippi, lest he arouse opposition and meet again +with personal violence; but, instead, he says: "We were bold in +our God to speak unto you the Gospel of God with much contention." +Personal considerations were all forgotten, or cast to the winds, +in his impetuous desire to declare the Gospel and save their +souls. He lived in the will of God, and conquered his fears. "The +wicked" are fearful, and "flee when no man pursueth; but the +righteous are as bold as a lion." + +This boldness is a fruit of righteousness, and is always found in +those who are full of the Holy Ghost. They forget themselves, and +so lose all fear. This was the secret of the martyrs when burned +at the stake or thrown to the wild beasts. + +Fear is a fruit of selfishness. Boldness thrives when selfishness +is destroyed. God esteems it, commands His people to be +courageous, and makes spiritual leaders only of those who possess +courage (Joshua i. 9). + +Moses feared not the wrath of the king, refused to be called the +son of Pharaoh's daughter, and boldly espoused the cause of his +despised and enslaved people. + +Joshua was full of courage. Gideon fearlessly attacked one +hundred and twenty thousand Midianites, with but three hundred +unarmed men. + +Jonathan and his armour-bearer charged the Philistine garrison +and routed hundreds singlehanded. + +David faced the lion and the bear, and inspired all Israel by +battling with and killing Goliath. + +The prophets were men of the highest courage, who fearlessly +rebuked kings, and at the risk of life, and often at the cost of +life, denounced popular sins, and called the people back to +righteousness and the faithful service of God. These men feared +God, and so lost the fear of man. They believed God, and so +obeyed Him, and found His favour, and were entrusted with His +high missions and everlasting employments. + +"Fear thou not, for I am with thee," saith the Lord; and this +Paul believed, and so says, "We were bold in our God." God was +his high tower, his strength and unfailing defence, and so he was +not afraid. + +His boldness toward man was a fruit of his boldness toward God, +and that, in turn, was a fruit of his faith in Jesus as his High +Priest, who had been touched with the feeling of his infirmities, +and through whom he could "come boldly to the Throne of Grace, +and obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need." + +It is the timidity and delicacy with which men attempt God's work +that often accounts for their failure. Let them speak out boldly +like men, as ambassadors of Heaven, who are not afraid to +represent their King, and they will command attention and +respect, and reach the hearts and consciences of men. + +I have read that quaint old Bishop Latimer, who was afterwards +burned at the stake, "having preached a sermon before King Henry +VIII, which greatly displeased the monarch, was ordered to preach +again on the next Sunday, and make apology for the offence given. +The day came, and with it a crowded assembly anxious to hear the +bishop's apology. Reading his text, he commenced thus: 'Hugh +Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak? +To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent +majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest. Therefore, +take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But, +then, consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou +comest? Upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and +mighty God, who is all-present, and who beholdeth all thy ways, +and who is able to cast thy soul into Hell! Therefore, take care +that thou deliver thy message faithfully.'" + +He then repeated the sermon of the previous Sunday, word for +word, but with double its former energy and emphasis. The Court +was full of excitement to learn what would be the fate of this +plain-dealing and fearless bishop. He was ordered into the king's +presence, who, with a stern voice, asked: "How dared you thus +offend me?" "I merely discharged my duty," was Latimer's reply. +The king arose from his seat, embraced the good man, saying, +"Blessed be God I have so honest a servant." + +He was a worthy successor of Nathan, who confronted King David +with his sin, and said, "Thou art the man." + +This Divine courage will surely accompany the fiery baptism of +the Spirit. + +What is it but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that gives +courage to Salvation Army Officers and Soldiers, enabling them to +face danger and difficulty and loneliness with joy, and attack +sin in its worst forms as fearlessly as David attacked Goliath? + +"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord." + + "Shall I, for fear of feeble man, + The Spirit's course in me restrain? + Awed by a mortal's frown, shall I + Conceal the word of God most high? + Shall I, to soothe the unholy throng, + Soften Thy truth, or smooth my tongue? + + "How then before Thee shall I dare + To stand, or how Thine anger bear? + Yea, let men rage; since Thou wilt spread + Thy shadowing wings around my head; + Since in all pain Thy tender love + Will still my sure refreshment prove." + +3. He was _without guile_. "For our exhortation was not of +deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; but as we were allowed +of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, even so we speak; not +as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts." + +He was frank and open. He spoke right out of his heart. He was +transparently simple and straightforward. Since God had honoured +him with this infinite trust of preaching the Gospel, he sought +to so preach it that he should please God regardless of men. And +yet that is the surest way to please men. People who listen to +such a man feel his honesty, and realise that he is seeking to do +them good, to save them rather than to tickle their ears and win +their applause, and in their hearts they are pleased. + +But, anyway, whether or not they are pleased, he is to deliver +his message as an ambassador, and look to his home government for +his reward. He gets his commission from God, and it is God who +will try his heart and prove his ministry. Oh, to please Jesus! +Oh, to stand perfect before God after preaching His Gospel! + +4. He was _not a time-server nor a covetous man._ "Neither +at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of +covetousness; God is witness," he adds. + +There are three ways of reaching a man's purse: (1) Directly. (2) +By way of his head with flattering words. (3) By way of his heart +with manly, honest, saving words. The first way is robbery. The +second way is robbery, with the poison of a deadly, but pleasing, +opiate added, which may damn his soul. The third reaches his +purse by saving his soul and opening in his heart an unfailing +fountain of benevolence to bless himself and the world. + +It were better for a preacher to turn highwayman, and rob men +with a club and a strong hand, than, with smiles and smooth words +and feigned and fawning affection, to rob them with flattery, +while their poor souls, neglected and deceived, go down to Hell. +How will he meet them in the Day of Judgment, and look into their +horrorstricken faces, realising that he played and toyed with +their fancies and affections and pride to get money, and, instead +of faithfully warning them and seeking to save them, with +flattering words fattened their souls for destruction! + +Not so did Paul. "I seek not yours, but you," he wrote the +Corinthians. It was not their money, but their souls he wanted. + +But such faithful love will be able to command all men have to +give. Why, to some of his converts he wrote: "I bear you record, +that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own +eyes, and have given them to me" (Gal. iv. 15). But he sought not +to please them with flattering words, only to save them. + +So faithful was he in this matter, and so conscious of his +integrity, that he called God Himself into the witness-box. "God +is witness," says he. + +Blessed is the man who can call on God to witness for him; and +that man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells in fullness can do this. +Can you, my brother? + +5. He was _not vain-glorious, nor dictatorial, nor oppressive_. +Some men care nothing for money, but they care mightily for power +and place and the glory that men give. But Paul was free from +this spiritual itching. Listen to him: "Nor of men sought we +glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been +burdensome" (or "used authority") "as the Apostles of Christ." + +Said Solomon, "For men to seek their own glory is not glory," it +is only vain-glory. "How can ye believe, which receive honour one +of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" +asked Jesus. + +From all this Paul was free, and so is every man who is full of +the Holy Ghost. And it is only as we are thus free that with the +whole heart and with a single eye we can devote ourselves to the +work of saving men. + +6. With all his boldness and faithfulness he was _gentle_. +"We were gentle among you," he says, "as a nurse cherisheth her +children." + +The fierce hurricane which casts down the giant trees of the +forest is not so mighty as the gentle sunshine, which, from tiny +seeds and acorns, lifts aloft the towering spires of oak and fir +on a thousand hills and mountains. + +The wild storm that lashes the sea into foam and fury is feeble +compared to the gentle, yet immeasurably powerful influence, +which twice a day swings the oceans in resistless tides from +shore to shore. + +And as in the physical world the mighty powers are gentle in +their vast workings, so it is in the spiritual world. The light +that falls on the lids of the sleeping infant and wakes it from +its slumber, is not more gentle than the "still small voice" that +brings assurance of forgiveness or cleansing to them that look +unto Jesus. + +Oh, the gentleness of God! "Thy gentleness hath made me great," +said David. "I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of +Christ" (2 Cor. x. 1), wrote Paul. And again, "The fruit of the +Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness" (Gal. v. +22). And as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are gentle, so will +be the servant of the Lord who is filled with the Spirit. + +I shall never forget the gentleness of a mighty man of God whom I +well knew, who on the platform was clothed with zeal as with a +garment, and in his overwhelming earnestness was like a lion or a +consuming fire; but when dealing with a wounded or broken heart, +or with a seeking soul, no nurse with a little babe could be more +tender than he. + +7. Finally, Paul was full of _self-forgetful, self-sacrificing +love._ "So being affectionately desirous of you, we were +willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only, +but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us." + +No wonder he shook those heathen cities, overthrew their idols, +had great revivals, that his jailer was converted, and that his +converts would have gladly plucked out their eyes for him! Such +tender, self-sacrificing love compels attention, begets +confidence, enkindles love, and surely wins its object. + +This burning love led him to labour and sacrifice, and so live +and walk before them that he was not only a teacher, but an +example of all he taught, and could safely say, "Follow me." + +This love led him to preach the whole truth, that he might by all +means save them. He kept back no truth because it was unpopular, +for it was their salvation and not his own reputation and +popularity he sought. + +He preached not himself, but a crucified Christ, without the +shedding of whose blood there is no remission of sins; and +through that precious blood he preached present cleansing from +all sin, and the gift of the Holy Spirit for all who obediently +believe. + +And this love kept him faithful and humble and true to the end, +so that at last in sight of the martyr's death, he saw the +martyr's crown, and cried out: "I am now ready to be offered,... +I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have +kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of +righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me +at that day." + +He had been faithful, and now at the end he was oppressed with no +doubts and harassed with no bitter regrets, but looked forward +with eager joy to meeting his Lord and beholding the blessed face +of Him he loved. Hallelujah! + + "Have you received the Holy Ghost? + 'Twill fit you for the fight, + 'Twill make of you a mighty host, + To put your foes to flight. + + "Have you received the Holy Power? + 'Twill fall from Heaven on you, + From Jesus' throne this very hour, + 'Twill make you brave and true. + + "Oh, now receive the Holy Fire! + 'Twill burn away all dross, + All earthly, selfish, vain desire, + 'Twill make you love the Cross." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XVII. + +PREACHING. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of +this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" +asks Paul. And then he declares: "After that in the wisdom of God +the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the +foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." + +What kind of preaching is this? He does not say, "foolish +preaching," but the foolishness of such a way as that of +preaching. Certainly, it is not the moral essay, or the +intellectual, or semi-intellectual, kind of preaching that is +most generally heard throughout the world to-day, that is to save +men; for thousands of such sermons move and convert no one: nor +is it a mere noisy declamation called a sermon--noisy because +empty of all earnest thought and true feeling; but it must be the +kind of which Peter speaks when he writes of "them that preached +the Gospel ... with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven" (1 +Peter i. 12). + +No man is equipped to rightly preach the Gospel, and undertake +the spiritual oversight and instruction of souls, till he has +been anointed with the Holy Ghost. + +The disciples had been led to Jesus by John the Baptist, whose +mighty preaching laid a deep and broad foundation for their +spiritual education, and then for three years they had listened +to both the public and private teachings of Jesus; they had been +"eye-witnesses of His glory," of His life and death and +resurrection, and yet He commanded them to tarry in Jerusalem, +and wait for the Holy Spirit. He was to fit them for their +ministry. And if they, trained and taught by the Master Himself, +had need of the Holy Spirit to enable them to preach and testify +with wisdom and power, how much more do you and I need His +presence! + +Without Him they could do nothing. With Him they were invincible, +and could continue the work of Jesus. The mighty energy of His +working is seen in the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost. +The sermon itself does not seem to have been very remarkable; +indeed, it is principally composed of testimony backed up and +fortified by Scripture quotations, followed by exhortation, just as +are the sermons that are most effective to-day in the immediate +conversion and sanctification of men. "True preaching," said Horace +Bushnell, "is a testimony." + +Peter's Scripture quotations were apt, fitting the occasion and +the people to whom they were addressed. The testimony was bold +and joyous, the rushing outflow of a warm, fresh throbbing +experience; and the exhortation was burning, uncompromising in +its demands, and yet tender and full of sympathy and love. But a +Divine Presence was at work in that vast, mocking, wondering +throng, and it was He who made Peter's simple words search like +fire, and carry such overwhelming conviction to the hearts of the +people. + +And it is still so that whenever and wherever a man preaches +"with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven," there will be +conviction. + +Under Peter's sermon "they were pricked in their hearts." The +truth pierced them as a sword until they said, "What shall we +do?" They had been doubting and mocking a short time before, but +now they were earnestly inquiring the way to be saved. + +The speech may be without polish, the manner uncouth, and the +matter simple and plain; but conviction will surely follow any +preaching in the burning love and power and contagious joy of the +Holy Spirit. + +A few years ago a poor black boy in Africa, who had been stolen +for a slave, and most cruelly treated, heard a missionary talking +of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and his heart hungered and +thirsted for Him. In a strange manner he worked his way to New +York to find out more about the Holy Spirit, getting the captain +of the ship and several of the crew converted on the way. The +brother in New York to whom he came took him to a meeting the +first night he was in the city, and left him there, while he went +to fulfil another engagement. When he returned at a late hour, he +found a crowd of men at the penitent-form, led there by the +simple words of this poor black fellow. He took him to his +Sunday-school, and put him up to speak, while he attended to some +other matters. When he turned from these affairs that had +occupied his attention for only a little while, he found the +penitent-form full of teachers and scholars, weeping before the +Lord. What the black boy had said he did not know; but he was +bowed with wonder and filled with joy, for it was the power of +the Holy Spirit. + +Men used to fall as though cut down in battle under the preaching +of Wesley, Whitefield, Finney, and others. And while there may +not be the same physical manifestation at all times, there will +surely be the same opening of eyes to spiritual things, breaking +of hearts, and piercing of consciences. The Spirit under the +preaching of a man filled with the Holy Ghost will often come +upon a congregation like a wind, and heads will droop, eyes will +brim with tears, and hearts will break under His convicting +power. I remember a proud young woman who had been mercilessly +criticising us for several nights smitten in this way. She was +smiling when suddenly the Holy Spirit winged a word to her heart, +and instantly her countenance changed, her head drooped, and for +an hour or more she sobbed and struggled while her proud heart +broke, and she found her way with true repentance and faith to +the feet of Jesus, and her Heavenly Father's favour. How often +have we seen such sights as this under the preaching of The +General! And it ought to be a common sight under the preaching of +all servants of God, for what are we sent for but to convict men +of their sin and their need, and by the power of the Spirit to +lead them to the Saviour? + +And not only will there be conviction under such preaching, but +generally, if not always, there will be conversion and sanctification. + +Three thousand people accepted Christ under Peter's Pentecostal +sermon, and later five thousand were converted, and a multitude +of the priests were obedient to the faith. And it was so under +the preaching of Philip in Samaria, of Peter in Lydda and Saron +and in Caesarea, and of Paul in Ephesus and other cities. + +To be sure, the preaching of Stephen in its immediate effect only +resulted in enraging his hearers until they stoned him to death; +but it is highly probable that the ultimate result was the +conversion of Paul, who kept the clothes of those who stoned him, +and through Paul the evangelisation of the Gentiles. + +One of the greatest of American evangelists sought with agonising +prayers and tears the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and received +it; and then he said he preached the same sermons; but where +before it had been as one beating the air, now hundreds were +saved. + +It is this that has made Salvation Army Officers successful. +Young, inexperienced, without special gifts, and without +learning, but with the baptism, they have been mighty to win +souls. The hardest hearts have been broken, the darkest minds +illuminated, the most stubborn wills subdued, and the wildest +natures tamed by them. Their words have been with power, and have +convicted and converted and sanctified men, and whole communities +have been transformed by their labours. + +But without this Presence great gifts and profound and accurate +learning are without avail in the salvation of men. We often see +men with great natural powers, splendidly trained, and equipped +with everything save this fiery baptism, and they labour and +preach year after year without seeing a soul saved. They have +spent years in study; but they have not spent a day, much less +ten days, fasting and praying and waiting upon God for His +anointing that should fill them with heavenly wisdom and power +for their work. They are like a great gun loaded and primed, but +without a spark of fire to turn the powder and ball into a +resistless lightning bolt. + +It is fire men need, and that they get from God in agonising, +wrestling, listening prayer that will not be denied; and when +they get it, and not till then, will they preach with the Holy +Ghost sent down from Heaven, and surely men shall be saved. Such +preaching is not foolish. The Holy Spirit makes the word alive. +He brings it to the remembrance of the preachers in whom He +abides, and He applies it to the heart of the hearers, lightening +up the soul as with a sun until sin is seen in all its hideousness, +or cutting as a sharp sword, piercing the heart with resistless +conviction of the guilt and shame of sin. + +Peter had no time to consult the Scriptures and prepare a sermon +on the morning of Pentecost; but the Holy Spirit quickened his +memory, and brought to his mind the Scriptures appropriate to the +occasion. + +Hundreds of years before, the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of the +prophet Joel, had foretold that in the last days the Spirit +should be poured out upon all flesh, and that their sons and +daughters should prophesy. And the same Spirit that spoke through +Joel now made Peter to see and declare that this Pentecostal +baptism was that of which Joel spoke. + +By the mouth of David He had said: "Thou wilt not leave My soul +in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption"; +and now Peter, by the inspiration of the same Spirit, applies +this Scripture to the resurrection of Jesus, and so proves to the +Jews that the One they had condemned and killed was the Holy One +foretold in prophecy and psalm. + +And so to-day the Holy Spirit inspires men who receive Him to use +the Scriptures to awaken, convict, and save men. + +When Finney was a young preacher, he was invited to a country +school-house to preach. On the way there he became much +distressed in soul, and his mind seemed blank and dark, when all +at once this text, spoken to Lot in Sodom by the angels, came to +his mind: "Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will +destroy this city." He explained the text, told the people about +Lot, and the wickedness of Sodom, and applied it to them. While +he spoke they began to look exceedingly angry, and then, as he +earnestly exhorted them to give up their sins and seek the Lord, +they began to fall from their seats as though stricken down in +battle, and to cry to God for mercy. A great revival followed; +many were converted, and a number of the converts became +ministers of the Gospel. + +To Finney's amazement, he learned afterwards that the place was +called Sodom, because of its extreme wickedness, and the old man +who had invited him to preach was called Lot, because he was the +only God-fearing man in the place. Evidently the Holy Spirit +worked through Finney to accomplish these results. And such +inspiration is not uncommon with those who are filled with the +Spirit. + +But this reinforcement of the mind and memory by the Holy Spirit +does not do away with the need of study. The Spirit quickens that +which is already in the mind and memory, as the warm sun and +rains of spring quicken the sleeping seeds that are in the +ground, and only those. + +The sun does not put the seed in the soil, nor does the Holy +Spirit without our attention and study put the word of God in our +minds. For that we should prayerfully and patiently study. + +"We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the +ministry of the word," said the Apostles. + +"Study to show thyself approved of God, a workman that needeth +not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the word of truth," wrote +Paul to Timothy. + +Those men have been best able to rightly divide the word, and +have been most mightily used by the Holy Spirit, who have most +carefully and prayerfully studied the word of God, and most +constantly and lovingly meditated upon it. + +4. This preaching is _healing and comforting._ Preaching +"with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven" is indescribably +searching in its effects. But it is also edifying, strengthening, +comforting to those who are wholly the Lord's. It cuts, but only +to cure. It searches, but only to save. It is constructive, as +well as destructive. It tears down sin and pride and unbelief, +but it builds up faith and righteousness and holiness and all the +graces of a Christian character. It warms the heart with love, +strengthens faith, and confirms the will in all holy purposes. + +Every preacher baptised with the Holy Ghost can say with Jesus: +"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath +anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me +to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the +captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; +to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of +vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn." + +Seldom is there a congregation in which there are only those who +need to be convicted. There will also be meek and gentle ones to +whom should be brought a message of joy and good tidings; broken-hearted +ones to be bound up; wounded ones to heal; tempted ones to +be delivered; and those whom Satan has bound by some fear or habit +to be set free; and the Holy Spirit who knows all hearts will +inspire the word that shall bless these needy ones. + +The preacher filled with the Holy Spirit, who is instant in +prayer, constant in the study of God's word, and steadfast and +active in faith, will surely be so helped that he can say with +Isaiah: "The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, +that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is +weary" (Isaiah i. 4). And as with little Samuel, the Lord will +"let none of his words fall to the ground" (1 Samuel iii. 19). + +He will expect results, and God will make them follow his +preaching as surely as corn follows the planting and cultivating +of the farmer. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XVIII. + +THE HOLY SPIRIT'S CALL TO THE WORK. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +"THE Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath +anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent +Me" (Isaiah lxi. 1), is the testimony of the workman God sends. + +God chooses His own workmen, and it is the office of the Holy +Spirit to call whom He will to preach the Gospel. I doubt not He +calls men to other employments for His glory, and would still +more often do so, if men would but listen and wait upon Him to +know His will. + +He called Bezaleel and Aholiab to build the tabernacle. He called +and commissioned the Gentile king, Cyrus, to rebuild Jerusalem +and restore His chastised and humbled people to their own land. +And did He not call Joan of Arc to her strange and wonderful +mission? And Washington and Lincoln? + +And, no doubt, He _leads_ most men by His providence to +their life-work; but the call to preach the Gospel is more than a +providential leading; it is a distinct and imperative conviction. +Bishop Simpson, in his "Lectures on Preaching," says:-- + +"Even in its faintest form there is this distinction between a +call to the ministry and a choice of other professions: a young +man may _wish_ to be a physician; he may _desire_ to enter the +navy; he would _like_ to be a farmer; but he feels he _ought_ to +be a minister. It is this feeling of _ought_, or obligation, +which in its feeblest form indicates the Divine call. It is not +in the aptitude, taste, or desire, but in the conscience, that +its root is found. It is the voice of God to the human conscience, +saying, 'You ought to preach.'" + +Sometimes the call comes as distinctly as though a voice had +spoken from the skies into the depths of the heart. + +A young man who was studying law was converted. After a while he +was convicted for sanctification, and while seeking he heard, as +it were, a voice, saying, "Will you devote all your time to the +Lord?" He replied: "I am to be a lawyer, not a preacher, Lord." +But not until he had said, "Yes, Lord," could he find the +blessing. + +A thoughtless, godless young fellow was working in the corn-field +when a telegram was handed him announcing the death of his +brother, a brilliant and devoted Salvation Army Field Officer; +and there and then, unsaved as he was, God called him, showed him +a vast Army with ranks broken, where his brother had fallen, and +made him to feel that he should fill the breach in the ranks. +Fourteen months later he took up the sword, and entered the Fight +from the same platform from which his brother fell, and is to-day +one of our most successful and promising Field Officers. + +Again, the call may come as a quiet suggestion, a gentle +conviction, as though a gossamer bridle were placed upon the +heart and conscience to guide the man into the work of the Lord. +The suggestion gradually becomes clearer, the conviction +strengthens until it masters the man, and if he seeks to escape +it, he finds the silken bridle to be one of stoutest thongs and +firmest steel. + +It was so with me. When but a boy of eleven, I heard a man +preaching, and I said to myself, "Oh, how beautiful to preach!" +Two years later I was converted, and soon the conviction came +upon me that I should preach. Later, I decided to follow another +profession; but the conviction increased in strength, while I +struggled against it, and turned away my ears and went on with my +studies. Yet in every crisis, or hour of stillness, when my soul +faced God, the conviction that I must preach burned itself deeper +into my conscience. I rebelled against it. I felt I would almost +rather (but not quite) go to Hell than to submit. Then at last a +great "Woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel," took possession of +me, and I yielded, and God won. Hallelujah! + +The first year He gave me three revivals, with many souls; and +now I would rather preach Jesus to poor sinners and feed His +lambs than to be an archangel before the Throne. Some day, some +day, He will call me into His blessed presence, and I shall stand +before His face, and praise Him for ever for counting me worthy, +and calling me to preach His glad Gospel, and share in His joy of +saving the lost. The "woe" is lost in love and delight through +the baptism of the Spirit and the sweet assurance that Jesus is +pleased. + +Occasionally, the call comes to a man who is ready and responds +promptly and gladly. When Isaiah received the fiery touch that +purged his life and purified his heart, he "heard the voice of +the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" +And in the joy and power of his new experience, he cried out, +"Here am I; send me!" (Isaiah vi. 5-8). + +When Paul received his call, he says, "Immediately I conferred +not with flesh and blood" (Gal. i. 16), and he got up and went as +the Lord led him. + +But more often it seems the Lord finds men preoccupied with other +plans and ambitions, or encompassed with obstacles and difficulties, +or oppressed with a deep sense of unworthiness or unfitness. Moses +argued that he could not talk. "O Lord!" he said, "I am not +eloquent, neither heretofore nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy +servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." + +And then the Lord condescended, as He always does, to reason with +the backward man. "Who hath made man's mouth?" He asks, "or who +maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I +the Lord? Now, therefore, go, and I will be with thy mouth, and +teach thee what thou shalt say" (Exodus iv. 10-12). + +When the call of God came to Jeremiah, he shrank back, and said, +"Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." But the +Lord replied, "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all +that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt +speak. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to +deliver thee" (Jeremiah i. 6-8). + +And so the call of God comes to-day to those who shrink and feel +that they are the most unfit, or most hedged in by insuperable +difficulties. + +I know a man, who, when converted, could not tell A from B. He +knew nothing whatever about the Bible, and stammered so badly +that, when asked his own name, it would usually take him a minute +or so to tell it; added to this, he lisped badly, and was subject +to a nervous affliction which seemed likely to unfit him for any +kind of work whatever. But God poured light and love into his +heart, called him to preach, and to-day he is one of the +mightiest soul-winners in the whole round of my acquaintance. +When he speaks the house is always packed to the doors, and the +people hang on his words with wonder and joy. + +He was converted at a Camp meeting, and sanctified wholly in a +cornfield. He learned to read; but, being too poor to afford a +light in the evening, he studied a large-print Bible by the light +of the full moon. To-day, he has the Bible almost committed to +memory, and when he speaks he does not open the Book, but reads +his lesson from memory, and quotes proof texts from Genesis to +Revelation without mistake, and gives chapter and verse for every +quotation. When he talks his face shines, and his speech is like +honey for sweetness, and like bullets fired from a gun for power. +He is one of the weak and foolish ones God has chosen to confound +the wise and mighty (1 Cor. i. 27). + +If God calls a man, He will so corroborate the call in some way, +that men may know that there is a prophet among them. It will be +with him as it was with Samuel. "And Samuel grew, and the Lord +was with him, and did let none of His words fall to the ground. +And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was +established to be a prophet of the Lord" (1 Samuel iii. 19, 20). + +If the man himself is uncertain about the call, God will deal +patiently with him, as He did with Gideon, to make him certain. +His fleece will be wet with dew when the earth is dry, or dry +when the earth is wet; or he will hear of some tumbling barley +cake smiting the tents of Midian, that will strengthen his faith, +and make him to know that God is with him (Judges vi. 36-40; +vii. 9-15). + +If the door is shut and difficulties hedge the way, God will go +before the man He calls, and open the door and sweep away the +difficulties (Isaiah xlv. 2, 3). + +If others think the man so ignorant and unfit that they doubt his +call, God will give him such grace or such power to win souls +that they shall have to acknowledge that God has chosen him. It +was in this way that God made a whole National Headquarters, from +the Commissioner downwards, to know that He had chosen the +elevator boy for His work. The boy got scores of his passengers +on the elevator saved, and then he was commissioned and sent into +the Field to devote all his time to saving men. + +The Lord will surely let the man's comrades and brethren know, as +surely as He did the Church at Antioch, when "the Holy Ghost +said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have +called them" (Acts xiii. 2). + +Sometimes the one who is called will try to hide it in his heart, +and then God stirs up some Officer or minister, some Soldier or +mother in Israel, to lay a hand on his shoulders, and ask, "Are +you not called to the work?" and he finds he cannot hide himself +nor escape from the call, any more than could Adam hide himself +from God behind the trees of the garden, or Jonah escape God's +call by taking ship for Tarshish. + +Happy is the man who does not try to escape, but, though +trembling at the mighty responsibility, assumes it, and, with all +humility and faithfulness, sets to work by prayer and patient, +continuous study of God's word, to fit himself for God's work. He +will need to prepare himself, for the call to the work is also a +call to preparation, continuous preparation of the fullest +possible kind. + +The man whom God calls cannot safely neglect or despise the call. +He will find his mission on earth, his happiness and peace, his +power and prosperity, his reward in Heaven, and probably Heaven +itself, bound up with that call and dependent upon it. He may run +away from it, as did Jonah, and find a waiting ship to favour his +flight; but he will also find fierce storms and bellowing seas +overtaking him, and big-mouthed fishes of trouble and disaster +ready to swallow him. + +But if he heeds the call, and cheerfully goes where God appoints, +God will go with him; he shall nevermore be left alone. The Holy +Spirit will surely accompany him, and he may be one of the +happiest men on earth, one of the gladdest creatures in God's +universe. + +"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," said +Jesus, as He commissioned His disciples to go to all nations and +preach the Gospel. "My presence shall go with thee," said Jehovah +to Moses, when sending him to face Pharaoh and free Israel, and +lead them to the Promised Land. + +And to the boy Jeremiah, He said, "Be not afraid of their faces: +for I am with thee to deliver thee.... And they shall fight +against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am +with thee" (Jeremiah i. 8, 19). + +I used to read these words with a great and rapturous joy, as I +realised by faith that they were also meant for me, and for every +man sent of God, and that His blessed presence was with me every +time I spoke to the people or dealt with an individual soul, or +knelt in prayer with a penitent seeker after God; and I still +read them so. + +Has He called you into the work, my brother? And are you +conscious of His helpful, sympathising, loving presence with you? +If so, let no petty offence, no hardship, nor danger, nor dread +of the future, cause you to turn aside or draw back. Stick to the +work till He calls you out, and when He so calls you can go with +open face and a heart abounding with love, joy, and peace, and He +will still go with you. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XIX. + +THE SHEATHED SWORD: A LAW OF THE SPIRIT. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +JUST as the moss and the oak are higher in the order of creation +than the clod of clay and the rock, the bird and beast than the +moss and the oak, the man than the bird and the beast, so the +spiritual man is a higher being than the natural man. The sons of +God are a new order of being. The Christian is a "new creation." +Just as there are laws governing the life of the plant, and other +and higher laws that of the bird and beast, so there are higher +laws for man, and still higher for the Christian. It was with +regard to one of these higher laws that govern the heavenly life +of the Christian that Jesus said to Peter, "Put up thy sword." + +Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My +kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight." The +natural man is a fighter. It is the law of his carnal nature. He +fights with fist and sword, tongue and wit. His kingdom is of +this world, and he fights for it with such weapons as this world +furnishes. The Christian is a citizen of Heaven, and is subject +to its law, which is universal, wholehearted love. In his kingdom +he conquers not by fighting, but by submitting. When an enemy +takes his coat, he overcomes him, not by going to law, but by +generously giving him his cloak also. When his enemy compels him +to go a mile with him, he vanquishes the enemy by cheerfully +going two miles with him. When he is smitten on one cheek, he +wins his foe by meekly turning the other cheek. This is the law +of the new life from Heaven, and only by recognising and obeying +it can that new life be sustained and passed on to others. This +is the narrow way which leads to life eternal, "and few there be +that find it," or, finding it, are willing to walk in it. + +A Russian peasant, Sutajeff, could get no help from the religious +teachers of his village, so he learned to read, and while +studying the Bible he found this narrow way, and walked gladly in +it. One night neighbours of his stole some of his grain, but in +their haste or carelessness they left a bag. He found it, and ran +after them to restore it, "for," said he, "fellows who have to +steal must be hard up." And by this Christlike spirit he saved +both himself and them, for he kept the spirit of love in his own +heart, and they were converted and became his most ardent +disciples. + +A beggar woman, to whom he gave lodging, stole the bedding and +ran away with it. She was pursued by the neighbours, and was just +about to be put in prison when Sutajeff appeared, became her +advocate, secured her acquittal, and gave her food and money for +her journey. + +He recognised the law of his new life and gladly obeyed it, and +so was not overcome of evil, but persistently and triumphantly +overcame evil with good (Romans xii. 21). + +This is the spirit and method of Jesus; and by men filled with +this spirit and following this method He will yet win the world. + +He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His +life a ransom for many. His spirit is not one of self-seeking, but +of self-sacrifice. Some mysterious majesty of His presence or voice +so awed and overcame His foes that they went back and fell to the +ground before Him in the Garden of His agony, but He meekly +submitted Himself to them; and when Peter laid to with his sword, +and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, Jesus said to him, +"Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father hath +given Me, shall I not drink it?" + +This was the spirit of Isaac. When he digged a well, the +Philistines strove with his servants for it; so he digged +another; and when they strove for that, he removed and digged yet +another, "and for that they strove not: and he called the name of +it Rehoboth" (margin, _room_): "and he said, For now the +Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the +land.... And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, +I am the God of Abraham, thy father: fear not, for I am with +thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed" (Genesis xxvi. +22, 24). + +This was the spirit of David, when Saul was hunting for his life; +twice David could have slain him, and when urged to do so, he +said, "As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day +shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle and perish. +The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the +Lord's anointed" (1 Samuel xxvi. 10, 11). + +This was the spirit of Paul. He says, "Being reviled, we bless; +being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we intreat" (1 +Cor. iv. 12, 13). "The servant of the Lord must not strive," +wrote Paul to Timothy, "but be gentle unto all men." This is the +spirit of our King, this is the law of His Kingdom. + +Is this your spirit? When you are reviled, bemeaned and +slandered, and are tempted to retort, He says to you, "Put up thy +sword into the sheath." When you are wronged and illtreated, and +men ride rough-shod over you, and you feel it but just to smite +back, He says, "Put up thy sword into the sheath." "Live +peaceably with all men." Your weapons are not carnal, but +spiritual, now that you belong to Him, and have your citizenship +in Heaven. If you fight with the sword; if you retort and smite +back when you are wronged, you quench the Spirit; you get out of +the narrow way, and your new life from Heaven will perish. + +An Officer went to a hard Corps, and after a while found that his +predecessor was sending back to friends for money which his own +Corps much needed. He felt it to be an injustice, and, losing +sight of the Spirit of Jesus, he made a complaint about it, and +the money was returned. But he got lean in his soul. He had +quenched the Spirit. He had broken the law of the Kingdom. He had +not only refused to give his cloak, but had fought for and +secured the return of the coat. He had lost the smile of Jesus, +and his poor heart was sad and heavy within him. He came to me +with anxious inquiry as to what I thought of his action. I had to +admit that the other man had transgressed, and that the money +ought to be returned, but that he should have been more grieved +over the unchristlike spirit of his brother than over the loss of +the five dollars, and that like Sutajeff he should have said, +"Poor fellow! he must be hard up; I will send him five dollars +myself. He has taken my coat, he shall have my cloak too." When I +told him that story, he came to himself very quickly, and was +soon back in the narrow way and rejoicing in the smile of Jesus +once again. + +"But will not people walk over us, if we do not stand up for our +rights?" you ask. I do not argue that you are not to stand up for +your rights; but that you are to stand up for your higher rather +than your lower rights, the rights of your heavenly life rather +than your earthly life, and that you are to stand up for your +rights in the way and spirit of Jesus rather than in the way and +spirit of the world. + +If men wrong you intentionally, they wrong themselves far worse +than they wrong you; and if you have the spirit of Jesus in your +heart you will pity them more than you pity yourself. They nailed +Jesus to the cross and hung Him up to die; they gave Him gall and +vinegar to drink; they cast votes for His seamless robe, and +divided His garments between them, while the crowd wagged their +heads at Him and mocked Him. Great was the injustice and wrong +they were inflicting upon Him, but He was not filled with anger, +only pity. He thought not of the wrong done Him, but of the wrong +they did themselves, and their sin against His Heavenly Father, +and He prayed not for judgment upon them, but that they might be +forgiven, and He won them, and is winning and will win the world. +Bless God! + +"By mercy and truth iniquity is purged," wrote Solomon. "Put up +thy sword into the sheath, "and take mercy and truth for your +weapons, and God will be with you and for you, and great shall be +your victory and joy. Hallelujah! + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XX. + +VICTORY THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT OVER SUFFERING. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +HAD there been no sin our Heavenly Father would have found other +means by which to develop in us passive virtues, and train us in +the graces of meekness, patience, long-suffering, and forbearance, +which so beautify and display the Christian character. But since +sin is here, with its contradictions and falsehoods, its darkness, +its wars, brutalities and injustices, producing awful harvests of +pain and sorrow, God, in wonderful wisdom and lovingkindness, +turns even these into instruments by which to fashion in us +beautiful graces. Storm succeeds sunshine, and darkness the light; +pain follows hard on the heels of pleasure, while sorrow peers +over the shoulder of joy; gladness and grief, rest and toil, +peace and war, interminably intermingled, follow each other in +ceaseless succession in this world. We cannot escape suffering +while in the body. But we can receive it with a faith that robs +it of its terror, and extracts from it richest blessing; from +the flinty rock will gush forth living waters, and the carcase +of the lion will furnish the sweetest honey. + +This is so even when the suffering is a result of our own folly +or sin. It is intended not only in some measure as a punishment, +but also as a teacher, a corrective, a remedy, a warning; and it +will surely work for good, if, instead of repining and vainly +regretting the past, we steadily look unto Jesus and learn our +lesson in patience and thankfulness. + + "If all the skies were sunshine, + Our faces would be fain + To feel once more upon them + The cooling plash of rain. + + "If all the world were music, + Our hearts would often long + For one sweet strain of silence + To break the endless song. + + "If life were always merry, + Our souls would seek relief + And rest from weary laughter + In the quiet arms of grief." + +Doubtless all our suffering is a result of sin, but not +necessarily the sin of the sufferer. Jesus was the sinless One, +but He was also the Chief of sufferers. Paul's great and lifelong +sufferings came upon him, not because of his sins, but rather +because he had forsaken sin, and was following Jesus in a world +of sin, and seeking the salvation of his fellows. In this path +there is no escape from suffering, though there are hidden and +unspeakable consolations. "In the world ye shall have tribulation," +said Jesus. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer +persecution," wrote Paul. + +Sooner or later, suffering in some form comes to each of us. It +may come through broken health, or pain and weariness of body; or +through mental anguish, moral distress, spiritual darkness and +uncertainty. It may come through the loss of loved ones, through +betrayal by trusted friends; or through deferred or ruined hopes, +or base ingratitude; or perhaps in unrequited toil and sacrifice +and ambitions all unfulfilled. Nothing more clearly distinguishes +the man filled with the Spirit from the man who is not than the +way each receives suffering. + +One with triumphant faith and shining face and strong heart +glories in tribulation, and counts it all joy. To this class +belong the Apostles, who, beaten and threatened, "departed from +the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer +shame for His Name" (Acts v. 41). + +The other with doubts and fears, murmurs and complains, and to +his other miseries adds that of a rebellious heart and discontented +mind. One sees the enemy's armed host, and unmixed distress +and danger; the other sees the angel of the Lord, with abundant +succour and safety (2 Kings vi. 15-17). + +An evangelist of my acquaintance told a story that illustrates +this. When a pastor he went one morning to visit two sisters who +were greatly afflicted. They were about the same age, and had +long been professing Christians and members of the Church. He +asked the first one upon whom he called, "How is it with you this +morning?" "Oh, I have not slept all night," she replied. "I have +so much pain. It is so hard to have to lie here. I cannot see why +God deals so with me." Evidently, she was not filled with the +Spirit, but was in a controversy with the Lord about her +sufferings, and would not be comforted. + +Leaving her he called immediately upon the other sister, and +asked, "How are you to-day?" "Oh, I had such a night of +suffering!" she replied. "Then," said he, "there came out upon +her worn face, furrowed and pale, a beautiful radiance, and she +added, "but Jesus was so near and helped me so, that I could +suffer this way and more, if my Father thinks best"; and on she +went with like words of cheer and triumph that made the sick room +a vestibule of glory. No lack of comfort in her heart, for the +Comforter Himself, the Holy Spirit, had been invited and had come +in. One had the Comforter in fullness, the other had not. + +Probably, no man ever suffered more than Paul, but with soldier-like +fortitude he bore his heavy burdens, faced his constant and +exacting labours, endured his sore trials, disappointments, and +bitter persecutions by fierce and relentless enemies; he stood +unmoved amid shipwrecks, stripes and imprisonments, cold, hunger, +and homelessness without a whimper that might suggest repining or +discouragement, or an appeal for pity. Indeed, he went beyond +simple uncomplaining fortitude, and said, "we glory in tribulation" +(Romans v. 3); "I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation" +(2 Cor. vii. 4); "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, +in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake" +(2 Cor. xii. 10). After a terrible scourging upon his bare back, +he was thrust into a loathsome inner dungeon, his feet fast in +the stocks, with worse things probably awaiting him on the morrow. +Nevertheless, we find him and Silas, his companion in suffering, +at midnight praying and singing praises unto God (Acts xvi. 25). + +What is his secret? Listen to him: "Because the love of God is +shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto +us" (Romans v. 5). His prayer for his Ephesian brethren had been +answered in his own heart: "That He would grant you, according to +the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His +Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by +faith." And this inner strength and consciousness, through faith, +in an indwelling Christ enabled him to receive suffering and +trial, not stoically as the Red Indian, nor hilariously, in a +spirit of bravado, but cheerfully and with a thankful heart. + +Arnold of Rugby has written something about his "most dear and +blessed sister" that illustrates the power flowing from +exhaustless fountains of inner joy and strength through the +working of the Holy Spirit. He says:-- + +"I never saw a more perfect instance of the spirit and power of +love, and of a sound mind. Her life was a daily martyrdom for +twenty years, during which she adhered to her early-formed +resolution of never talking about herself; she was thoughtful +about the very pins and ribands of my wife's dress, about the +making of a doll's cap for a child--but of herself, save only as +regarded her ripening in all goodness, wholly thoughtless, +enjoying everything lovely, graceful, beautiful, high-minded, +whether in God's works or man's, with the keenest relish; +inheriting the earth to the very fullness of the promise, though +never leaving her crib, nor changing her posture; and preserved, +through the very valley of the shadow of death, from all fear or +impatience, and from every cloud of impaired reason, which might +mar the beauty of Christ's and the Spirit's work." + +It is not by hypnotising the soul, nor by blessing it into a +state of ecstatic insensibility, that the Lord enables the man +filled with the Spirit to thus triumph over suffering. Rather it +is by giving the soul a sweet, constant, and unshaken assurance +through faith: First, that it is freely and fully accepted in +Christ. Second, that whatever suffering comes, it is measured, +weighed, and permitted by love infinitely tender, and guided by +wisdom that cannot err. Third, that however difficult it may be +to explain suffering now, it is nevertheless _one_ of the +"all things" which "work together for good to them that love +God," and that in a "little while" it will not only be swallowed +up in the ineffable blessedness and glory, but that in some way +it is actually helping to work out "a far more exceeding and +eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. iv. 7). Fourth, that though the +furnace has been heated seven times hotter than was wont, yet +"the Form... like unto the Son of God" is walking with us in the +fire; though triumphant enemies have thrust us into the lions' +den, yet the angel of the Lord arrived first and locked the +lions' jaws; though foes may have formed against us sharp +weapons, yet they cannot prosper, for His shield and buckler +defend us; though all things be lost, yet "Thou remainest"; and +though "my flesh and my heart may fail, God is the strength of my +heart and my portion for ever." + +Not all God's dear children thus triumph over their difficulties +and sufferings, but this is God's standard, and they may attain +unto it, if, by faith, they will open their hearts and "be filled +with the Spirit." + +Here is the testimony of a Salvation Army Officer up to date:-- + +"Viewed from the outside, my life as a sinner was easy and +untroubled, over which most of my friends expressed envy; while +these same friends thought my life as a Christian full of care, +toil, hardship, and immense loss. This, however, was only an +outside view, and the real state of the case was exactly the +opposite of what they supposed. For in all the pleasure-seeking, +idleness, and freedom from responsibility of my life apart from +God, I carried an immeasurable burden of fear, anxiety, and +constantly recurring disappointment; trifles weighed upon me, and +the thought of death haunted me with vague terrors. + +"But when I gave myself wholly to God, though my lot became at +once one of toil, responsibility, comparative poverty and +sacrifice, yet I could not feel pain in any storm that broke over +my head, because of the presence of God. It was not so much that +I was insensible to trouble, as sensible of His presence and +love; and the worst trials were as nothing in my sight, nor have +been for over twenty-two years. While as for death, it appears +only as a doorway into more abundant life, and I can alter an old +German hymn, and sing with joy: + + "'Oh, how my heart with rapture dances. + To think my dying hour advances! + Then, Lord, with Thee! + My Lord, with Thee!'" + +This is faith's triumph over the worst the world can offer +through the blessed fullness of the indwelling Comforter. Bless +His Name! + + "Here speaks the Comforter, Light of the straying, + Hope of the penitent, Advocate sure, + Joy of the desolate, tenderly saying, + 'Earth has no sorrow My grace cannot cure.'" + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XXI. + +THE OVERFLOWING BLESSING. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +THE children of Israel were instructed by Moses to give tithes of +all they had to the Lord, and in return God promised to richly +bless them, making their fields and vineyards fruitful and +causing their flocks and herds to safely multiply. But they +became covetous and unbelieving, and began to rob God by +withholding their tithes, and then God began to withhold His +blessing from them. + +But still God loved and pitied them, and sent to them again and +again by His prophets; and finally by the prophet Malachi He +said: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there +may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the +Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and +pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to +receive it" (Malachi iii. 10). + +He promised to make their barns overflow, if they would be +faithful, if they would pay their tithes and discharge their +obligations to Him. + +Now, this overflow of barns and granaries is a type of +overflowing hearts and lives when we give ourselves fully to God, +and the blessed Holy Ghost comes in, and Jesus becomes all and in +all to us. The blessing is too big to contain, but just bursts +out and overflows through the life, the looks, the conversation, +the very tones of the voice, and gladdens and refreshes and +purifies wherever it goes. Jesus calls it "rivers of living +water" (John vii. 38). + +There is an overflow of _love_. Sin brings in an overflow of +hate, so that the world is filled with wars and murders, +slanders, oppression, and selfishness. But this blessing causes +love to overflow. Schools, colleges, and hospitals are built; +shelters, rescue homes, and orphanages are opened; even war +itself is in some measure humanised by the Red Cross Society and +Christian commissions. Sinners love their own, but this blessing +makes us to love all men--strangers, the heathen, and even our +enemies. + +There is an overflow of _peace_. It settles old quarrels and +grudges. It makes a different atmosphere in the home. The +children know it when father and mother get the Comforter. Kindly +words and sweet goodwill take the place of bitterness and strife. +I suspect that even the dumb beasts realise the overflow. + +I heard a laughable story of a man whose cow would switch her +tail in his face, and then kick over the pail when he was milking +her, after which he would always give her a beating with the +stool on which he sat. But he got the blessing, and his heart was +overflowing with peace. The next morning he went to milk that +cow, and when the pail was nearly full, swish! came the tail in +his face, and with a vicious kick she knocked over the pail, and +then ran across the barn-yard. The blessed man picked up the +empty pail and stool and went over to the cow, which stood +trembling, awaiting the usual kicks and beating; but instead he +patted her gently, and said, "You may kick over that pail as +often as you please, but I am not going to beat you any more"; +and the cow seemed to understand, for she dropped her head and +quietly began to eat, and never kicked again! That story is good +enough to be true, and I doubt not it is, for certainly when the +Comforter comes a great peace fills the heart and overflows +through all the life. + +There is an overflow of _joy_. It makes the face to shine; +it glances from the eye, and bubbles out in thanksgiving and +praise. You never can tell when one who has the blessing will +shout out, "Glory to God! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen!" + +I have sometimes seen a whole congregation wakened up and +refreshed and made glad by the joyous overflow from one clean-hearted +soul. A Salvation Soldier or Officer with an overflow of +genuine joy is worth a whole company of ordinary folks. He is a +host within himself, and is a living proof of the text, "The joy +of the Lord is your strength." + +There is an overflow of _patience_ and _long-suffering._ +A man got this blessing, and his wicked wife was +so enraged that she left him, and went across the way and lived +as the wife of his unmarried brother. He was terribly tempted to +take his gun and go over and kill them both. But he prayed about +it, and the Lord gave him the patience and long-suffering of +Jesus, who bears long with the backslider who leaves Him and +joins himself with the world; and he continued to treat them with +the utmost kindness, as though they had done him no wrong. Some +people might say the man was weak, but I should say he was +unusually "strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," and a +neighbour of his told me that all his neighbours believed in his +religion. + +There is an overflow of _goodness_ and _generosity_. I +read the other day of a poor man who supports eight workers in +the foreign mission field. When asked how he did it, he replied +that he wore celluloid collars, did his own washing, denied +himself, and managed his affairs in order to do it. + +Do you ask, "How can I get such a blessing?" You will get it by +bringing in all the tithes, by giving yourself in love and +obedience and wholehearted, joyous consecration to Jesus, as a +true bride gives herself to her husband. Do not try to bargain +with the Lord and buy it of Him, but wait on Him in never-give-in +prayer and confident expectation, and He will give it to you. And +then you must not hold it selfishly for your own gratification, +but let it overflow to the hungry, thirsty, fainting world about +you. God bless you even now, and do for you exceeding abundantly +above all you ask or think! + +A comrade went from one of my meetings recently with a heart +greatly burdened for the blessing, and for two or three days and +nights did little else but read the Bible, and pray and cry to +God for a clean heart filled with the Spirit. At last the +Comforter came, and with Him fullness of peace and joy and +soul-rest, and that day this comrade led a number of others into the +blessing. Hallelujah! "If ye then, being evil, know how to give +good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly +Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him" (Luke xi. 13). +"_Ask,... seek,... knock_." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XXII. + +IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE OF HOLINESS TO SPIRITUAL +LEADERS. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +A mighty man inspires and trains other men to be mighty. We +wonder and exclaim often at the slaughter of Goliath by David, +and we forget that David was the forerunner of a race of +fearless, invincible warriors and giant-killers. + +If we would in this light but study and remember the story of +David's mighty men, it would be most instructive to us. + +Moses inspired a tribe of cowering, toiling, sweat-begrimed, +spiritless slaves to lift up their heads, straighten their backs, +and throw off the yoke; and he led them forth with songs of +victory and shouts of triumph from under the mailed hand and iron +bondage of Pharaoh. He fired them with a national spirit, and +welded and organised them into a distinct and compact people that +could be hurled with resistless power against the walled cities +and trained warriors of Canaan. + +But what was the secret of David and Moses? Whence the +superiority of these men? David was only a stripling shepherd-boy +when he immortalised himself. What was his secret? To be sure, +Moses was "instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and, +doubtless, had been trained in all the civil, military, and +scientific learning of his day, but he was so weak in himself +that he feared and fled at the first word of questioning and +disparagement that he heard (Exodus ii. 14), and spent the next +forty years feeding sheep for another man in the rugged +wilderness of Sinai. What, then, was his secret? + +Doubtless, they were men cast in a kinglier mould than most men; +but their secret was not in themselves. + +Joseph Parker declared that great lives are built on great +promises, and so they are. These men had so far humbled +themselves that they found God. They got close to Him, and He +spoke to them. He gave them promises. He revealed His way and +truth to them, and trusting Him, believing His promises, and +fashioning their lives according to His truth--His doctrine--everything +else followed. They became "workers together with +God," heroes of faith, leaders of men, builders of empire, +teachers of the race, and, in an important sense, saviours of +mankind. + +Their secret is an open one; it is the secret of every truly +successful spiritual leader from then till now, and there is no +other way to success in spiritual leadership. + +1. They had an _experience_. They _knew God_. + +2. This experience, this acquaintance with God, was +_maintained_ and deepened and broadened in obedience to +God's teaching, or truth, or doctrine. + +3. They patiently yet urgently _taught others_ what they +themselves had learned, and declared, so far as they saw it, the +whole counsel of God. + +They were abreast of the deepest experiences and fullest +revelations God had yet made to men. They were leaders, not +laggards. They were not in the rear of the procession of God's +warriors and saints; they were in the forefront. + +Here we discover the importance of the doctrine and experience of +holiness through the baptism of the Holy Spirit to Salvation Army +leaders. We are to know God and glorify Him and reveal Him to +men. We are to finish the work of Jesus, and "fill up that which +is behind of the sufferings of Christ" (Col. i. 24). We are to +rescue the slaves of sin, to make a people, to fashion them into +a holy nation, and inspire and lead them forth to save the world. +How can we do this? Only by being in the forefront of God's +spiritual hosts; not in name and in titles only, but in reality; +by being in glad possession of the deepest experiences God gives, +and the fullest revelations He makes to men. + +The astonishing military and naval successes of the Japanese are +said to be due to their profound study, clear understanding, and +firm grasp of the theory, the principles, the doctrines of war; +their careful and minute preparation of every detail of their +campaigns; the scientific accuracy and precision with which they +carry out all their plans, and their splendid and utter personal +devotion to their cause. + +Our war is far more complex and desperate than theirs, and its +issues are infinitely more far-reaching, and we must equip +ourselves for it; and nothing is so vital to our cause as a +mastery of the doctrine and an assured and joyous possession of +the Pentecostal experience of holiness through the indwelling +Spirit. + +I. _The Doctrine._--What is the teaching of God's word about +holiness? + +1. If we carefully study God's word, we find that He wants His +people to be holy, and the making of a holy people, after the +pattern of Jesus, is the crowning work of the Holy Spirit. He +commands us to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the +flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord" (2 +Cor. vii. 1). It is prayed that we may "increase and abound in +love one toward another, and toward all men... to the end He may +stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God" (1 +Thess. iii. 12, 13). He says: "As He which hath called you is +holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is +written, Be ye holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter i. 15, 16). And in +the most earnest manner we are exhorted to "follow peace with all +men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" +(Hebrews xii. 14). + +2. As we further study the word, we discover that holiness is +more than simple freedom from condemnation for wrong-doing. A +helpless invalid lying on his bed of sickness, unable to do +anything wrong, may be free from the condemnation of actual +wrong-doing, and yet it may be in his heart to do all manner of +evil. Holiness on its negative side is a state of heart purity; +it is heart cleanness--cleanness of thought and temper and +disposition, cleanness of intention and purpose and wish; it is a +state of freedom from all sin, both inward and outward (Romans +vi. 18). On the positive side it is a state of union with God in +Christ, in which the whole man becomes a temple of God and filled +with the fruit of the Spirit, which is "love, joy, peace, +long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." It +is moral and spiritual sympathy and harmony with God in the +holiness of His nature. + +We must not, however, confound purity with maturity. Purity is a +matter of the heart, and is secured by an instantaneous act of +the Holy Spirit; maturity is largely a matter of the head and +results from growth in knowledge and experience. In one, the +heart is made clean, and is filled with love; in the other, the +head is gradually corrected and filled with light, and so the +heart is enlarged and more firmly established in faith; +consequently, the experience deepens and becomes stronger and +more robust in every way. It is for this reason that we need +teachers after we are sanctified, and to this end we are exhorted +to humbleness of mind. + +Importance of the Doctrine. + +With a heart full of sympathy and love for his father my little +boy may voluntarily go into the garden to weed the vegetables; +but, being yet ignorant, lacking light in his head, he pulls up +my sweet corn with the grass and weeds. His little heart glows +with pleasure and pride in the thought that he is "helping papa," +and yet he is doing the very thing I don't want him to do. But if +I am a wise and patient father, I shall be pleased with him; for +what is the loss of my few stalks of corn compared to the +expression and development of his love and loyalty? And I shall +commend him for the love and faithful purpose of his little +heart, while I patiently set to work to enlighten the darkness of +his little head. His heart is pure toward his father, but he is +not yet mature. In this matter of light and maturity holy people +often widely differ, and this causes much perplexity and needless +and unwise anxiety. In the fourteenth chapter of Romans, Paul +discusses and illustrates the principle underlying this +distinction between purity and maturity. + +3. As we continue to study the word under the illumination of the +Spirit, who is given to lead us into all truth, we further learn +that holiness is not a state which we reach in conversion. The +Apostles were converted, they had forsaken all to follow Jesus +(Matthew xix. 27-29), their names were written in Heaven (Luke x. +20), and yet they were not holy. They doubted and feared, and +again and again were they rebuked for the slowness and littleness +of their faith. They were bigoted, and wanted to call down fire +from Heaven to consume those who would not receive Jesus (Luke +ix. 51-56); they were frequently contending among themselves as +to which should be the greatest, and when the supreme test came +they all forsook Him and fled. Certainly, they were not only +afflicted with darkness in their heads, but, far worse, carnality +in their hearts; they were His, and they were very dear to Him, +but they were not yet holy, they were yet impure of heart. + +Paul makes this point very clear in his Epistle to the +Corinthians. He tells them plainly that they were yet only babes +in Christ, because they were carnal and contentious (I Cor. iii. +I). They were in Christ, they had been converted, but they were +not holy. + +It is of great importance that we keep this truth well in mind +that men may be truly converted, may be babes in Christ, and yet +not be pure in heart; we shall then sympathise more fully with +them, and see the more clearly how to help them and guide their +feet into the way of holiness and peace. + +Those who hold that we are sanctified wholly in conversion will +meet with much to perplex them in their converts, and are not +intelligently equipped to bless and help God's little children. + +4. A continued study of God's teaching on this subject will +clearly reveal to us that purity of heart is obtained after we +are converted. Peter makes this very plain in his address to the +Council in Jerusalem, where he recounts the outpouring of the +Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his household. After mentioning +the gift of the Holy Ghost, he adds, "and put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts xv. +9). Among other things, then, the baptism of the Holy Ghost +purifies the heart; but the disciples were converted before they +received this Pentecostal experience, so we see that heart +purity, or holiness, is a work wrought in us after conversion. + +Again, we notice that Peter says, "purifying their hearts by +faith." If it is by faith, then it is not by growth, nor by +works, nor by death, nor by purgatory after death. It is God's +work. He purifies the heart, and He does it for those, and only +those who, devoting all their possessions and powers to Him, seek +Him by simple, prayerful, obedient, expectant, unwavering faith +through His Son our Saviour. + +Unless we grasp these truths, and hold them firmly, we shall not +be able to "rightly divide the word of truth," we shall hardly be +"workmen that need not be ashamed, approved unto God" (2 Tim. ii. +15). Some one has written that "the searcher in science knows +that if he but stumble in his hypothesis--that if he but let +himself be betrayed into prejudice or undue leaning toward a pet +theory, or anything but absolute uprightness of mind--his whole +work will be stultified and he will fail ignominiously. To get +anywhere in science he must follow truth with absolute rectitude." + +THE HOLY SPIRIT. + +And is there not a science of salvation, of holiness, of eternal +life, that requires the same absolute loyalty to "the Spirit of +Truth"? How infinitely important, then, that we know what that +truth is, that we may understand and hold that doctrine. + +A friend of mine who finished his course with joy, and was called +into the presence of his Lord to receive his crown some time ago, +has pointed out some mistakes which we must carefully avoid. Here +they are:-- + +"It is a great mistake to substitute repentance for Bible +consecration. The people whom Paul exhorted to full sanctification +were those who had turned from their idols to serve the living +and true God, and to wait for His Son sent down from Heaven +(I Thess. i. 9, 10; iii. 10-13; v. 23). + +"Only people who are citizens of His kingdom can claim His +sanctifying power. Those who still have idols to renounce may be +candidates for conversion, but not for the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and fire. + +"It is a mistake in consecration to suppose that the person +making it has anything of his own to give. We are not our own, +but we are bought with a price, and consecration is simply taking +our hands off from God's property. To wilfully withhold anything +from God is to be a God-robber. + +"It is a mistake to substitute a mere mental assent to God's +proprietorship and right to all we have, while withholding +complete devotion to Him. This is theoretical consecration--a +rock on which we fear multitudes are being wrecked. Consecration +which does not embrace the crucifixion of self and the funeral of +all false ambitions is not the kind which will bring the Holy +Fire. A consecration is imperfect which does not embrace the +speaking faculty" (the tongue), "and the believing faculty" (the +heart), "the imagination, and every power of mind, soul, and +body, and give all absolutely and for ever into the hands of +Jesus, turning a deaf ear to every opposing voice. + +"Reader, have you made such a consecration as this? It must +embrace all this, or it will prove a bed of quicksand to sink +your soul, instead of a full salvation balloon, which will safely +bear you above the fog and malaria and turmoil of the world, +where you can triumphantly sing: + + "'I rise to float in realms of light, + Above the world and sin. + With heart made pure and garments white, + And Christ enthroned within.' + +"It is a mistake to teach seekers to 'only believe,' without +complete abandonment to God at every point, for they can no more +do it than an anchored ship can sail. + +"It is a mistake to substitute mere verbal assent for obedient +trust. 'Only believe' is a fatal snare to all who fall into these +traps. + +"It is a mistake to believe that the altar sanctifies the gift +without the assurance that all is on the altar. If even the end +of your tongue, or one cent of your money, or a straw's weight of +false ambition, or spirit of dictation, or one ounce of your +reputation, or will, or believing powers be left off the altar, +you can no more believe than a bird without wings can fly. + +"'Only believe' is only for those seekers of holiness who are +truly converted, fully consecrated, and crucified to everything +but the whole will of God. Teachers who apply this to people who +have not yet reached these stations need themselves to be taught. +All who have reached them may believe, and if they do believe, +may look God in the face, and triumphantly sing: + + "'The blood, the blood is all my plea, + Hallelujah, for it cleanseth me.'" + +II. _The Experience_.--Simply to be skilled in the doctrine +is not sufficient for us as leaders. We may be as orthodox as St. +Paul himself, and yet be only as "sounding brass and clanging +cymbals," unless we are rooted in the blessed experience of +holiness. If we would save ourselves and them that follow us, if +we would make havoc of the Devil's kingdom and build up God's +kingdom, we must not only know and preach the truth, but we must +be living examples of the saving and sanctifying power of the +truth. We are to be "living epistles, known and read of all men"; +we must be able to say with Paul, "follow me as I follow Christ"; +and "those things which ye learned and received and heard and saw +in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you." + +We must not forget that-- + +1. We are ourselves simple Christians, individual souls +struggling for eternal life and liberty, and we must by all means +save ourselves. To this end we must be holy, else we shall at +last experience the awful woe of those who, having preached to +others, are yet themselves castaways. + +2. We are leaders upon whom multitudes depend. It is a joy and an +honour to be a leader, but it is also a grave responsibility. +James says: "We shall receive the heavier judgment" (James iii. +i, R.V.). How unspeakable shall be our blessedness, and how vast +our reward, if, wise in the doctrine, and rich and strong and +clean in the experience of holiness, we lead our people into +their full heritage in Jesus! But how terrible shall be our +condemnation, and how great our loss, if, in spiritual slothfulness +and unbelief, we stop short of the experience ourselves and leave +them to perish for want of the gushing waters and heavenly food +and Divine direction we should have brought them! We need the +experience for ourselves, and we need it for our work and for our +people. + +What the roof is to a house, that the doctrine is to our system +of truth. It completes it. What sound and robust health is to our +bodies, that the experience is to our souls. It makes us every +whit whole, and fits us for all duty. Sweep away the doctrine, +and the experience will soon be lost. Lose the experience, and +the doctrine will surely be neglected, if not attacked and +denied. No man can have the heart, even if he has the head, to +fully and faithfully and constantly preach the doctrine unless he +has the experience. + +Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and as this doctrine +deals with the deepest things of the Spirit, it is only clearly +understood and is best recommended, explained, defended, and +enforced by those who have the experience. + +Without the experience, the presentation of the doctrine will be +faulty and cold and lifeless, or weak and vacillating, or harsh +and sharp and severe. With the experience, the preaching of the +doctrine will be with great joy and assurance, and will be strong +and searching, but at the same time warm and persuasive and +tender. + +I shall never forget the shock of mingled surprise and amusement +and grief with which I heard a Captain loudly announce in one of +my meetings many years ago that he was "going to preach holiness +now," and his people "have to get it," if he had to "ram it down +their throats." Poor fellow! He did not possess the experience +himself, and never pressed into it and soon forsook his people. + +A man in the clear experience of the blessing will never think of +"ramming" it down people; but will, with much secret prayer, +constant meditation and study, patient instruction, faithful +warning, loving persuasion, and burning, joyful testimony, seek +to lead them into that entire and glad consecration and that +fullness of faith that never fail to receive the blessing. + +Again, the most accurate and complete knowledge of the doctrine, +and the fullest possession of the experience, will fail us at +last unless we carefully guard ourselves at several points, and +unless we watch and pray. + +3. We must not judge ourselves so much by our feelings as by our +volitions. It is not my feelings, but the purpose of my heart, +the attitude of my will, that God looks at, and it is that to +which I must look. "If our heart condemns us not, then have we +confidence toward God." A friend of mine who had firmly grasped +this thought, and walked continually with God, used to testify: +"I am just as good when I don't feel good as when I do feel +good." Another mighty man of God said that all the feeling he +needed to enable him to trust God was the consciousness that he +was fully submitted to all the known will of God. + +We must not forget that the Devil is "the accuser of the +brethren" (Rev. xii. 10), and that he seeks to turn our eyes away +from Jesus, who is our Surety and our Advocate, to ourselves, our +feelings, our infirmities, our failures; and if he succeeds in +this, gloom will fill us, doubts and fears will spring up within +us, and we shall soon fail and fall. We must be wise as the +conies, and build our nest in the cleft of the Rock of Ages. +Hallelujah! + +4. We must not divorce conduct from character, or works from +faith. Our lives must square with our teaching. We must live what +we preach. We must not suppose that faith in Jesus excuses us +from patient, faithful, laborious service. We must "live by every +word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"; that is, we must +fashion our lives, our conduct, our conversation by the +principles laid down in His word, remembering His searching +saying, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall +enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of +My Father which is in Heaven." + +This subject of faith and works is very fully discussed by James +(chap. ii. 14-26), and Paul is very clear in his teaching that, +while God saves us not by our works, but by His mercy through +faith, yet it is that we may "maintain good work" (Titus iii. +14); and "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto +good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in +them" (Eph. ii. 8-10). + +Faith must "work by love," and emotion must be transmitted into +action, and joy must lead to work, and love to faithful, +self-sacrificing service, else they become a kind of pleasant and +respectable, but none the less deadly, debauchery, and at last +ruin us. + +5. However blessed and satisfactory our present experience may +be, we must not rest in it, but remember that our Lord has yet +many things to say unto us, as we are able to receive them. We +must stir up the gift of God that is in us, and say with Paul, +"One thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and +stretching forward" (as a racer) "to the things which are before, +I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of +God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. iii. 13, 14, R.V.). It is at this +point that many fail. They seek the Lord, they weep and struggle +and pray, and then they believe; but, instead of pressing on, +they sit down to enjoy the blessing, and, lo! it is not. The +children of Israel must needs follow the pillar of cloud and +fire. It made no difference when it moved--by day or by night, +they followed; and when the Comforter comes we must follow, if we +would abide in Him and be filled with all the fullness of God. +And, Oh, the joy of following Him! + +Finally, if we have the blessing--not the harsh, narrow, +unprogressive exclusiveness which often calls itself by the +sweet, heavenly term of holiness, but the vigorous, courageous, +self-sacrificing, tender, Pentecostal experience of perfect +love--we shall both save ourselves and enlighten the world, our +converts will be strong, our Candidates for the work will +multiply, and will be able, dare-devil men and women, and our +people will come to be like the brethren of Gideon, of whom it +was said, "Each one resembled the children of a king." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XXIII. + +VICTORY OVER EVIL TEMPER BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Two letters recently reached me, one from Oregon, and one from +Massachusetts, inquiring if I thought it possible to have temper +destroyed. The comrade from Oregon wrote: "I have been wondering +if the statement is correct when one says, 'My temper is all +taken away.' Do you think the temper is destroyed or sanctified? +It seems to me that if one's temper were actually gone he would +not be good for anything." + +The comrade from Massachusetts wrote: "Two of our Corps Cadets +have had the question put to them: 'Is it possible to have all +temper taken out of our hearts?' One claims it is possible. The +other holds that the temper is not taken out, but God gives power +to overcome it." + +Evidently these are questions that perplex many people, and yet +the answer seems to me simple. + +Temper, _as usually spoken of_, is not a faculty or power of +the soul, but is rather an irregular, passionate, violent +expression of selfishness. When selfishness is destroyed by love, +by the incoming of the Holy Spirit, revealing Jesus to us as an +uttermost Saviour, and creating within us a clean heart, of +course such evil temper is gone, just as the friction and +consequent wear and heat of two wheels is gone when the cogs are +perfectly adjusted to each other. The wheels are far better off +without friction, and just so man is far better off without such +temper. + +We do not destroy the wheels to get rid of the friction, but we +readjust them; that is, we put them into just or right relations +to each other, and then noiselessly and perfectly they do their +work. So, strictly speaking, sanctification does not destroy +self, but it destroys selfishness--the abnormal and mean and +disordered manifestation and assertion of self. I myself am to be +sanctified, rectified, purified, brought into harmony with God's +will as revealed in His word, and united to Him in Jesus, so that +His life of holiness and love flows continually through all the +avenues of my being, as the sap of the vine flows through all +parts of the branch. "I am the Vine, ye are the branches," said +Jesus. + +When a man is thus filled with the Holy Spirit he is not made +into a putty man, a jelly fish, with all powers of resistance +taken out of him; he does not have any less force and "push" and +"go" than before, but rather more, for all his natural energy is +now reinforced by the Holy Spirit, and turned into channels of +love and peace instead of hate and strife. + +He may still feel indignation in the presence of wrong, but it +will not be rash, violent, explosive, and selfish, as before he +was sanctified, but calm and orderly, and holy, and determined, +like that of God. It will be the wholesome, natural antagonism of +holiness and righteousness to all unrighteousness and evil. + +Such a man will feel it when he is wronged, but it will be much +in the same way that he feels when others are wronged. The +personal, selfish element will be absent. At the same time there +will be pity and compassion and yearning love for the wrong-doer +and a greater desire to see him saved than to see him punished. + +A sanctified man was walking down the street the other day with +his wife, when a filthy fellow on a passing wagon insulted her +with foul words. Instantly the temptation came to the man to want +to get hold of him and punish him, but as instantly the +indwelling Comforter whispered, "If ye will forgive men their +trespasses;" and instantly the clean heart of the man responded, +"I will, I do forgive him, Lord;" and instead of anger a great +love filled his soul, and instead of hurling a brick or hot words +at the poor Devil-deceived sinner, he sent a prayer to God in +Heaven for him. There was no friction in his soul. He was +perfectly adjusted to his Lord; his heart was perfectly +responsive to his Master's word, and he could rightly say, "My +temper is gone." + +A man must have his spiritual eyes wide open to discern the +difference between sinful temper and righteous indignation. + +Many a man wrongs and robs himself by calling his fits of temper +"righteous indignation;" while, on the other hand, there is here +and there a timid soul who is so afraid of sinning through temper +as to suppress the wholesome antagonism that righteousness, to be +healthy and perfect, must express towards all unrighteousness and +sin. + +It takes the keen-edged word of God, applied by the Holy Spirit, +to cut away unholy temper without destroying righteous antagonism; +to enable a man to hate and fight sin with spiritual weapons +(2 Cor. x. 3-5), while pitying and loving the sinner; to so fill +him with the mind of Jesus that he will feel as badly over a wrong +done to a stranger as though it were done to himself; to help him +to put away the personal feeling and be as calm and unselfish and +judicial in opposing wrong as is the judge upon the bench. Into +this state of heart and mind is one brought who is entirely +sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Hallelujah! + +Dr. Asa Mahan, the friend and co-worker of Finney, had a quick +and violent temper in his youth and young manhood; but one day he +believed, and God sanctified him, and for fifty years he said he +never felt but one uprising of temper, and that was but for an +instant, about five years after he received the blessing. For the +following forty-five years, though subjected to many trials and +provocations, he felt only love and peace and patience and good-will +in his heart. + +A Christian woman was confined to her bed for years with nervous +and other troubles, and was very cross and touchy and petulant. +At last she became convinced that the Lord had a better +experience for her, and she began to pray for a clean heart full +of patient, holy, humble love; and she prayed so earnestly, so +violently, that her family became alarmed lest she should wear +her poor, frail body out in her struggle for spiritual freedom. +But she told them she was determined to have the blessing, if it +cost her her life, and so she continued to pray, until one glad, +sweet day the Comforter came; her heart was purified, and from +that day forth, in spite of the fact that she was still a nervous +invalid, suffering constant pain, she never showed the least sign +of temper or impatience, but was full of meekness, and patient, +joyous thankfulness. + + "Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all + the chords with might-- + Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, passed in + music out of sight." + +Such is the experience of one in whom Jesus lives without a +rival, and in whom grace has wrought its perfect work. + +"No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed of gold, not +drunkenness itself, does more to un-Christianise society than +evil temper," says a distinguished and thoughtful writer. + +If this be true, it must be God's will that we be saved from it. +And it is provided for in the uttermost salvation that Jesus +offers. + +Do you want this blessing, my brother, my sister? If so, be sure +of this: God has not begotten such a desire in your heart to mock +you; you may have it. God is able to do even this for you. With +man it is impossible, but not with God. Look at Him just now for +it. It is His work, His gift. Look at your past failures, and +acknowledge them; look at your present and future difficulties, +count them up and face them every one, and admit that they are +more than you can hope to conquer; but then look at the dying Son +of God, your Saviour--the Man with the seamless robe, the crown +of thorns, and the nail-prints; look at the fountain of His +Blood; look at His word; look at the Almighty Holy Ghost, who +will dwell within you, if you but trust and obey, and cry out: +"It shall be done! The mountain shall become a plain; the +impossible shall become possible. Hallelujah!" Quietly, +intelligently, abandon yourself to the Holy Spirit just now in +simple, glad, obedient faith, and the blessing shall be yours. +Glory to God! + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's When the Holy Ghost is Come, by S. L. Brengle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME *** + +***** This file should be named 6135.txt or 6135.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/3/6135/ + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: When the Holy Ghost is Come + +Author: Col. S. L. Brengle + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6135] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 17, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME. + +BY + +COLONEL S. L. BRENGLE, + + +Edited by BRAMWELL BOOTH. + + + + +FOREWORD. + +The Salvation Army, contrary to what has often been thought by +surface observers, has owed its existence, its strength, and its +success chiefly to our careful attention to the profoundest +questions of the soul. + +And still, as always, we wish to urge upon all the study of those +great practical truths, without the proclamation of which our +work for men would cease to have any abiding value. We glory in +the knowledge of Christ as a perfect Saviour just as much for +this, our own time, as for any past generation, or for any +generation yet to come. The pretence that this age has reached +some superior development, whether mental or moral, for which a +new kind of Saviour is needed, seems to us absurd. And we do not +believe it can long endure where Christ is really known. + +To the most thoughtful, therefore, as well as to those who have +the least time for thought, I earnestly commend the words of +devout and practical men upon those great questions, which I hope +to see reproduced in the series of which the present volume is +the first. Prayerful reading of their messages cannot but lead to +immediate action, to a complete self-abandonment to God, and to a +realizing faith in His power to use every one of His sons and +daughters for the healing of the world's open sores and the +triumph of His Rule. + +BRAMWELL BOOTH. LONDON, January, 1909. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +PREFACE + +I. WHO IS HE? +II. PREPARING HIS HOUSE III. IS THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY + SPIRIT A THIRD BLESSING? +IV. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT +V. PURITY +VI. POWER +VII. TRYING THE SPIRITS +VIII. GUIDANCE +IX. THE MEEK AND LOWLY HEART +X. HOPE +XI. THE HOLY SPIRIT'S SUBSTITUTE FOR GOSSIP AND EVIL-SPEAKING +XII. THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST +XIII. OFFENCES AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST +XIV. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SOUND DOCTRINE +XV. PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT +XVI. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANOINTED PREACHER +XVII. PREACHING +XIX. THE SHEATHED SWORD: A LAW OF THE SPIRIT +XX. VICTORY THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT OVER SUFFERING +XXI. THE OVERFLOWING BLESSING +XXII. IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE OF HOLINESS TO + SPIRITUAL LEADERS +XXIII. VICTORY OVER EVIL TEMPER BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT + + + + +PREFACE. + + +It is no small pleasure to me to commend this book to all who +love God, and in particular to those who are labouring to serve +Him in the ranks of The Salvation Army. I believe that it will +prove useful in the most important ways--in its bearing, that +is, upon many of the practical difficulties and problems of daily +life. + +The writer, Colonel Brengle, gives us not only of the fruit of an +orderly and well-stored mind on the great subject before us, but-- +and this is the more important--he tells us of the actual work +of the Holy Spirit in the lives of ordinary men and women, as he +has witnessed the results of that work amidst his many labours +for the Salvation and Holiness of the people. It is for them he +writes. It is to them, living the common life, bound to others by +the obligations of ordinary social intercourse, toiling at their +secular occupations, and rubbing shoulders with the multitude in +the market-place, that his message comes. I venture to hope that +his words will make it plain to some of them that the highest +intercourse with the Divine is their privilege; that the special +province of the Holy Ghost is to lead men into the truest +devotion to God, and to the advancement of His Kingdom on earth, +even while they are carrying on the common avocations associated +with earning their daily bread. + +The only purpose of God having a practical bearing on our lives +is His purpose to save men from sin and its awful consequences, +and make them conform to His will in this world as in the next. +The work of the Holy Spirit is to help us to achieve that +purpose. Without His help we are unable to overcome the +difficulties that are in the way, whether we consider them from +the standpoint of the world or of the individual. If anyone could +have looked at the state of the world at the time of our Lord's +death he would surely have regarded the work which the Apostles +were commissioned to attempt as the most utterly wild and +impracticable enterprise that the human mind could conceive. And +it was so, but for one fact. That fact was the promise of the +Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be the great Helper in the +undertaking. + +And equally in the work of uniting the individual soul with God's +purpose that Spirit is our Helper. In the work of righteousness +He is a Partner with us. In the life of faith and prayer He is +our unwavering Prompter and Guide. In the submission of our wills +to God and the chastening of our spirits He is the great Co-worker +with us. In the bearing of burdens and the enduring of trial and +sorrow He joins hands with us to lead us on. In the purifying of +every power from the taint of sin He is our Sanctifier. + +All this is practical. It has to do with to-day--with every bit +of to-day. In fact, so far from the sphere of the Holy Spirit +being limited to the pulpit or the platform, or to the inward +experiences of the religious life, He is just as truly and +properly concerned with the affairs of the shop and the street, +the nursery and the kitchen, the chamber of suffering and the +home of penury, as with preaching the Gospel or healing the sick. + +Now it is to lead its readers to a personal experience of all +this that this book has been written. No mere intellectual assent +to the truth it sets forth can satisfy its author, any more than +it can benefit his readers. What he seeks, and what I join him in +devoutly asking of God, is that you, dear friend, who may take +this little volume into your hands, may see what an infinite +privilege is yours, and may begin to act with God the Holy Ghost, +and to open your whole being to Him, that He may work with you. + +BRAMWELL BOOTH. +LONDON, January, 1909. + + + + +I. + +WHO IS HE? + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +On that last eventful evening in the upper room, just after the +Passover feast, Jesus spoke to His disciples about His departure, +and, having commanded them to love one another, He besought them +not to be troubled in heart, but to hold fast their faith in Him, +assuring them that, though He was to die and leave them, He was +but going to the Father's many-mansioned house to prepare a place +for them. + +But already they were troubled, for what could this death and +departure mean but the destruction of all their hopes, of all +their cherished plans? Jesus had drawn them away from their +fishing-boats, their places of custom and daily employment, and +inspired them with high personal and patriotic ambitions, and +encouraged them to believe that He was the Seed of David, the +promised Messiah; and they hoped that He would cast out Pilate +and his hated Roman garrison, restore the kingdom to Israel, and +sit on David's throne, a King, reigning in righteousness and +undisputed power and majesty for ever. And then, were they not to +be His Ministers of State and chief men in His Kingdom? + +He was their Leader, directing their labours; their Teacher, +instructing their ignorance and solving their doubts and all +their puzzling problems; their Defence, stilling the stormy sea +and answering for them when questioned by wise and wily enemies. + +They were poor and unlearned and weak. In Him was all their help, +and what would they do, what could they do, without Him? They +were without social standing, without financial prestige, without +learning or intellectual equipment, without political or military +power. He was their All, and without Him they were as helpless as +little children, as defenceless as lambs in the midst of wolves. +How could their poor hearts be otherwise than troubled? + +But then He gave them a strange, wonderful, reassuring promise: +He said, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray +the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may +abide with you for ever" (John xiv. 15, 16). I am going away, but +Another shall come, who will fill My place. He shall not go away, +but abide with you for ever, and He "shall be in you." And later +He added: "It is expedient for you"--that is, better for you-- +"that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not +come." + +Who is this other One--this Comforter? He must be some august +Divine Person, and not a mere influence or impersonal force, for +how else could He take and fill the place of Jesus? How else +could it be said that it was better to have Him than to have +Jesus remaining in the flesh? He must be strong and wise, and +tender and true, to take the place of the Blessed One who is to +die and depart. Who is He? + +John, writing in the Greek language, calls Him "Paraclete," but +we in English call Him Comforter. But Paraclete means more, much +more than Comforter. It means "one called in to help: an +advocate, a helper." The same word is used of Jesus in i John ii. +i: "We have an Advocate," a Paraclete, a Helper, "with the +Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Just as Jesus had gone to be +the disciples' Advocate, their Helper in the Heavens, so this +other Paraclete was to be their Advocate, their Helper on earth. +He would be their Comforter when comfort was needed; but He would +be more; He would be also their Teacher, Guide, Strengthener, as +Jesus had been. At every point of need there would He be as an +ever-present and all-wise, almighty Helper. He would meet their +need with His sufficiency; their weakness with His strength; +their foolishness with His wisdom; their ignorance with His +knowledge; their blindness and short-sightedness with His +perfect, all-embracing vision. Hallelujah! What a Comforter! Why +should they be troubled? + +They were weak, but He would strengthen them with might in the +inner man (Eph. iii. 16). They were to give the world the words +of Jesus, and teach all nations (Matthew xxviii. 19, 20); and He +would teach them all things, and bring to their remembrance +whatsoever Jesus had said to them (John xiv. 26). + +They were to guide their converts in the right way, and He was to +guide them into all truth (John xvi. 13). They were to attack +hoary systems of evil, and inbred and actively intrenched sin, in +every human heart; but He was to go before them, preparing the +way for conquest, by convincing the world of sin, of righteousness, +and of judgment (John xvi. 8). They were to bear heavy burdens and +face superhuman tasks, but He was to give them power (Acts i. 8). +Indeed, He was to be a Comforter, a Strengthener, a Helper. + +Jesus had been external to them. Often they missed Him. Sometimes +He was asleep when they felt they sorely needed Him. Sometimes He +was on the mountains, while they were in the valley vainly trying +to cast out stubborn devils, or wearily toiling on the tumultuous, +wind-tossed sea. Sometimes He was surrounded by vast crowds, and +He entered into high disputes with the doctors of the law, and +they had to wait till He was alone to seek explanations of His +teachings. But they were never to lose this other Helper in the +crowd, nor be separated for an instant from Him, for no human +being, nor untoward circumstance, nor physical necessity, could +ever come between Him and them, for, said Jesus, "He shall be in +you." + +From the words used to declare the sayings, the doings, the +offices and works of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, we are +forced to conclude that He is a Divine Person. Out of the +multitude of Scriptures which might be quoted, note this passage, +which, as nearly as is possible with human language, reveals to +us His personality: "Now there were in the Church that was at +Antioch certain prophets and teachers... As they ministered to +the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas +and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they +had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent +them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed +into Seleucia" (Acts xiii. 1-4). + +Further on we read that they "were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to +preach the word in Asia"; and when they would have gone into +Bithynia, "the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts xvi. 6, 7). + +Again, when the messengers of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, +were seeking Peter, "the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men +seek thee. Arise, therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, +doubting nothing: for I have sent them" (Acts x. 19, 20). + +These are but a few of the passages of Scripture that might be +quoted to establish the fact of His personality--His power to +think, to will, to act, to speak; and if His personality is not +made plain in these Scriptures, then it is impossible for human +language to make it so. + +Indeed, I am persuaded that if an intelligent heathen, who had +never seen the Bible, should for the first time read the four +Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, he would say that the +personality of the Holy Spirit is as clearly revealed in the Acts +as is the personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. In truth, +the Acts of the Apostles are in a large measure the acts of the +Holy Spirit, and the disciples were not more certainly under the +immediate direction of Jesus during the three years of His +earthly ministry than they were under the direct leadership of +the Spirit after Pentecost. + +But, while there are those that admit His personality, yet in +their loyalty to the Divine Unity they deny the Trinity, and +maintain that the Holy Spirit is only the Father manifesting +Himself as Spirit, without any distinction in personality. But +this view cannot be harmonised with certain Scriptures. While the +Bible and reason plainly declare that there is but one God, yet +the Scriptures as clearly reveal that there are three Persons in +the Godhead--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. + +The form of Paul's benediction to the Corinthians proves the +doctrine:-- + +"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the +communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (2 Cor. xiii. +14). + +Again, it is taught in the promise of Jesus, already quoted, "And +I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter... +the Spirit of Truth" (John xiv. 16, 17). Here the three Persons of +the Godhead are clearly revealed. The Son prays; the Father +answers; the Spirit comes. + +The Holy Spirit is "another Comforter," a second Comforter +succeeding the first, who was Jesus, and both were given by the +Father. + +Do you say, "I cannot understand it"? Neither do I. Who can +understand it? God does not expect us to understand it. Nor would +He have us puzzle our heads and trouble our hearts in attempting +to understand it or harmonise it with our knowledge of arithmetic. + +Note this: it is only the _fact_ that is revealed; +_how_ there can be three Persons in one Godhead is not +revealed. + +The _how_ is a mystery, and is not a matter of faith at all; +but the _fact_ is a matter of revelation, and therefore a +matter of faith. I myself am a mysterious trinity of body, mind, +and spirit. The fact I believe, but the _how_ is not a thing +to believe. It is at this point that many puzzle and perplex +themselves needlessly. + +In the ordinary affairs of life we grasp facts, and hold them +fast, without puzzling ourselves over the _how_ of things. +Who can explain _how_ food sustains life; how light reveals +material objects, how sound conveys ideas to our minds? It is the +fact we know and believe, but the _how_ we pass by as a +mystery unrevealed. What God has revealed, we believe. We cannot +understand _how_ Jesus turned water into wine; _how_ He +multiplied a few loaves and fishes and fed thousands; _how_ +He stilled the stormy sea; _how_ He opened blind eyes, healed +lepers, and raised the dead by a word. But the facts we believe. +Wireless telegraphic messages are sent over the vast wastes of +ocean. That is a fact, and we believe it. But _how_ they go we +do not know. That is not something to believe. It is a matter of +pure speculation, and is unexplained. + +An old servant of God has pointed out that it is the fact of the +Trinity, and not the _manner_ of it, which God has revealed, +and made a subject for our faith. + +But while the Scriptures reveal to us the fact of the personality +of the Holy Spirit, and it is a subject for our faith, to those +in whom He dwells this fact may become a matter of sacred +knowledge, of blessed experience. + +How else can we account for the positive and assured way in which +the Apostles and disciples spoke of the Holy Ghost on and after +the day of Pentecost, if they did not know Him? Immediately after +the fiery baptism, with its blessed filling, Peter stood before +the people, and said: "This is that which was spoken by the +prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith +God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh"; then he exhorted +the people and assured them that if they would meet certain +simple conditions they should "receive the gift of the Holy +Ghost." He said to Ananias, "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to +lie to the Holy Ghost?" He declared to the High Priest and +Council that he and his fellow-Apostles were witnesses of the +resurrection of Jesus: and added, "And so is also the Holy Ghost, +whom God hath given to them that obey Him." Without any apology +or explanation, or "think so" or "hope so," they speak of being +"filled" (not simply with some new, strange experience or +emotion, but) "with the Holy Ghost." Certainly they must have +known Him. And if they knew Him, may not we? + +Paul says: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, +but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things +that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, +not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy +Ghost teacheth" (I Cor. ii. 12, 13). And if we know the words, +may we not know the Teacher of the words? + +John Wesley says:-- + +"The knowledge of the Three-One God is interwoven with all true +Christian faith, with all vital religion. I do not say," he adds, +"that every real Christian can say, with the Marquis de Renty, 'I +bear about with me continually an experimental verity, and a +fullness of the ever-blessed'Trinity. I apprehend that this is +not the experience of "babes," but rather "fathers in Christ."' +But I know not how anyone can be a Christian believer till he +'hath the witness in himself,' till 'the Spirit of God witnesses +with his spirit that he is a child of God'; that is, in effect, +till God the Holy Ghost witnesses that God the Father has +accepted him through the merits of God the Son. + +"Not that every Christian believer adverts to this; perhaps, at +first, not one in twenty; but, if you ask them a few questions, +you will easily find it is implied in what he believes." + +I shall never forget my joy, mingled with awe and wonder, when +this dawned upon my consciousness. For several weeks I had been +searching the Scriptures, ransacking my heart, humbling my soul, +and crying to God almost day and night for a pure heart and the +baptism with the Holy Ghost, when one glad, sweet day (it was +January 9th, 1885) this text suddenly opened to my understanding: +"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us +our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"; and I was +enabled to believe without any doubt that the precious blood +cleansed my heart, even mine, from all sin. Shortly after that, +while reading these words of Jesus to Martha: "I am the +resurrection and the life; he that believeth on Me, though he +were dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth on +Me shall never die," instantly my heart was melted like wax +before fire; Jesus Christ was revealed to my spiritual consciousness, +revealed in me, and my soul was filled with unutterable love. I +walked in a heaven of love. Then one day, with amazement, +I said to a friend: "This is the perfect love about which the +Apostle John wrote; but it is beyond all I dreamed of; in it is +personality; this love thinks, wills, talks with me, corrects me, +instructs and teaches me." And then I knew that God the +Holy Ghost was in this love, and that this love was God, for +"God is love." + +Oh, the rapture mingled with reverential, holy fear--for it is a +rapturous, yet divinely fearful thing--to be indwelt by the Holy +Ghost, to be a temple of the Living God! Great heights are always +opposite great depths, and from the heights of this blessed +experience many have plunged into the dark depths of fanaticism. +But we must not draw back from the experience through fear. All +danger will be avoided by meekness and lowliness of heart; by +humble, faithful service; by esteeming others better than +ourselves, and in honour preferring them before ourselves; by +keeping an open, teachable spirit; in a word, by looking steadily +unto Jesus, to whom the Holy Spirit continually points us: for He +would not have us fix our attention exclusively upon Himself and +His work _in_ us, but also upon the Crucified One and His +work _for_ us, that we may walk in the steps of Him whose +blood purchases our pardon, and makes and keeps us clean. + + "Great Paraclete! to Thee we cry: + O highest Gift of God most high! + O Fount of life! O Fire of love! + And sweet Anointing from above! + + "Our senses touch with light and fire; + Our hearts with tender love inspire; + And with endurance from on high + The weakness of our flesh supply. + + "Far back our enemy repel, + And let Thy peace within us dwell; + So may we, having Thee for Guide, + Turn from each hurtful thing aside. + + "Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow + The Father and the Son to know, + And evermore to hold confessed + Thyself of Each the Spirit blest." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +II. + +PREPARING HIS HOUSE. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +JESUS said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be +born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom +of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which +is born of the Spirit is spirit." And Paul wrote to the Romans +that, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of +His." + +So it must be that every child of God, every truly converted +person, has the Holy Spirit in some gracious manner and measure, +else he would not be a child of God; for it is only "as many as +are led by the Spirit of God" that "are the sons of God." + +It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin, who makes us feel +how good and righteous, and just and patient God is, and how +guilty we are, and how unfit for Heaven, and how near to Hell. It +is the Holy Spirit who leads us to true repentance and confession +and amendment of life; and when our repentance is complete, and +our surrender is unconditional, it is He who reasons with us, and +calms our fears, and soothes our troubled hearts, and banishes +our darkness, and enables us to look to Jesus, and believe on Him +for the forgiveness of all our sins and the salvation of our +souls. And when we yield and trust, and are accepted of the Lord, +and are saved by grace, it is He who assures us of the Father's +favour, and notifies us that we are saved. "The Spirit Himself +beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." +He is "the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." + + "And His that gentle voice we hear, + Soft as the breath of even; + That checks each thought, that calms each fear, + And speaks of Heaven." + + It is He who strengthens the new convert + to fight against and overcome sin, and it is + He who "begets within him a hope of fuller + righteousness through faith in Christ." + + "And every virtue we possess, + And every victory won, + And every thought of holiness, + Are His alone." + +Blessed be God for this work of the Holy Spirit within the heart +of every true child of His! + +But, great and gracious as is this work, it is not the fiery +pentecostal baptism with the Spirit which is promised; it is not +the fullness of the Holy Ghost to which we are exhorted. It is +only the clear dawn of the day, and not the rising of the day-star. +This is only the initial work of the Spirit. It is perfect of +its kind, but it is preparatory to another and fuller work, +about which I wish to write. + +Jesus said to His disciples, concerning the Holy Spirit, that +"the world" (the unsaved, unrepentant) "cannot receive" Him, +"because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him"; because they +resist Him, and will not permit Him to work in their hearts. And +then Jesus added, "but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you...." +He had begun His work in them, but there was more to follow, for +Jesus said, "and shall be in you." + +When a man is building himself a house, he is in and out of it +and round about it. But we do not say he lives in it until it has +been completed. And it is in that sense that Jesus said, "He +dwelleth with you." But when the house is finished, the owner +sweeps out all the chips and saw-dust, scrubs the floor, lays +down his carpets, hangs up his pictures, arranges his furniture, +and moves in with his family. Then he is in the fullest sense +within it. He abides there. Now, it is in that sense that Jesus +meant that the Holy Spirit should be in them. This is fitly +expressed in one of our songs:-- + + "Holy Spirit, come, Oh, come! + Let Thy work in me be done! + All that hinders shall be thrown aside; + Make me fit to be Thy dwelling." + +Previous to Pentecost He was with them, using the searching +preaching of John the Baptist, and the life, the words, the +example, the sufferings, and the death and resurrection of Jesus +as instruments with which to fashion their hearts for His +indwelling. As the truth was declared to them in the words of +Jesus, pictured to them in His doings, exemplified in His daily +life, and fulfilled in His death and His rising from the dead, +the Holy Spirit wrought mightily within them; but He could not +yet find perfect rest in their hearts; therefore He did not yet +abide within them. + +They had forsaken all to follow Christ. They had been +commissioned to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick, to cleanse +the lepers, to raise the dead, to cast out devils. Their names +were written in Heaven. They were not of the world, even as Jesus +was not of the world, for they belonged to Him and to the Father. +They knew the Holy Spirit, for He was with them, working in them, +but not yet living in them, for they were yet carnal; that is, +they were selfish, each seeking the best place for himself. They +disputed among themselves as to which should be the greatest. +They were bigoted, wanting to call down fire from Heaven to +consume those who would not receive Jesus, and forbidding those +who would not follow them to cast out devils in His name. They +were positive and loud in their professions of devotion and +loyalty to Jesus when alone with Him. They declared they would +die with Him. But they were fearful, timid, and false to Him when +the testing time came. When the mocking crowd appeared, and +danger was near, they all forsook Him, and fled; while Peter +cursed and swore, and denied that he knew Him. + +But the Holy Spirit did not forsake them. He still wrought within +them, and, no doubt, used their very mistakes and miserable +failures to perfect within them the spirit of humility and +perfect self-abasement in order that they might safely be +exalted. And on the day of Pentecost His work of preparation was +complete, and He moved in to abide for ever. Hallelujah! + +And this experience of theirs before Pentecost is the common +experience of all true converts. Every child of God knows that +the Holy Spirit is with him; realises that He is working within, +striving to set the house in order. And with many who are +properly taught and gladly obedient, this work is done quickly, +and the heavenly Dove, the Blessed One, takes up his constant +abode within them; the toil and strife with inbred sin is ended +by its destruction, and they enter at once into the sabbath of +full salvation. + +Surely this is possible. The disciples could not receive the Holy +Spirit till Jesus was glorified; because not until then was the +foundation for perfect, intelligent, unwavering faith laid. But +since the day of Pentecost, He may be received immediately by +those who have repented of all sin, who have believed on Jesus, +and been born again. Some have assured me that they were +sanctified wholly and filled with the Spirit within a few hours +of their conversion. I have no doubt that this was so with many +of the three thousand who were converted under Peter's preaching +on the day of Pentecost. + +But often this work is slow, for He can only work effectually as +we work with Him, practising intelligent and obedient faith. Some +days the work prospers and seems almost complete, and then peace +and joy and comfort abound in the heart; at other times the work +is hindered, and oftentimes almost or quite undone, by the +strivings and stirrings of inbred sin, by fits of temper, by +lightness and frivolity, by neglect of watchfulness and prayer, +and the patient, attentive study of His word; by worldliness, by +unholy ambitions, by jealousies and envyings, by uncharitable +suspicions and harsh judgments and selfish indulgences, and +slowness to believe. + +"The flesh lusteth against the Spirit," seeks to bring the soul +back under the bondage of sin again, while the Spirit wars +against the flesh, which is "the old man," "the carnal mind." The +Spirit seeks to bring every thought into "captivity to the +obedience of Christ," to lead the soul to that point of glad, +whole-hearted consecration to its Lord, and that simple, perfect +faith in the merits of His blood which shall enable Him to cast +out "the old man," destroy "the carnal mind," and, making the +heart His temple, enthrone Christ within. + +"Here on earth a temple stands, Temple never built with hands; +There the Lord doth fill the place With the glory of His grace. +Cleansed by Christ's atoning blood, _Thou_ art this fair +house of God. Thoughts, desires, that enter there, Should they +not be pure and fair? Meet for holy courts and blest, Courts of +stillness and of rest, Where the soul, a priest in white, Singeth +praises day and night; Glory of the love divine, Filling all this +heart of mine." + +My brother, my sister, what is your experience just now? Are you +filled with the Spirit? Or is the old man still warring against +Him in your heart? Oh, that you may receive Him fully by faith +just now! + +"Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" + + + + +III. + +IS THE BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT A THIRD BLESSING? + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +There is much difference of opinion among many of God's children +as to the time and order of the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and +many who believe that entire cleansing is subsequent to +salvation, ask if the baptism with the Spirit is not subsequent +to cleansing, and, therefore, a third blessing. + +There are four classes of teachers whose views appear to differ +about this subject. There are:-- + +1. Those who emphasise cleansing; who say much of a clean heart, +but little, if anything, about the fullness of the Holy Spirit +and power from on High. + +2. Those who emphasise the baptism with the Holy Ghost and +fullness of the Spirit, but say little or nothing of cleansing +from inbred sin and the destruction of the carnal mind. + +3. Those who say much of both, but separate them into two +distinct experiences, often widely separated in time. + +4. Those who teach that the truth is in the union of the two, and +that, while we may separate them in their order, putting +cleansing first, we cannot separate them as to time, since it is +the baptism that cleanses, just as the darkness vanishes before +the flash of the electric light when the right button is touched; +just as the Augean stables were cleansed, in the fabled story of +Grecian mythology, when Hercules turned in the floods of the +River Arno; the refuse went out as the rushing waters poured in. + +There are three very blessed portions of Scripture which show us +that this is God's order, and two that plainly show us that +cleansing and the baptism are not separate in time. + +In Psalm li. 10 and 12, David prays, "Create in me a clean heart, +O God, and renew a right spirit within me.... Uphold me with Thy +free Spirit." First the cleansing, then the filling that upholds: +for as it is my spirit within me that upholds my body, so it is +God's Spirit within that upholds my soul. + +In Ezekiel xxxvi. 25 and 27, the Lord says, "Then will I sprinkle +clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your +filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.... And I +will put My Spirit within you." + +Here again, the order is first cleansing, then filling. + +In John xvii. 15-26, Jesus prays for His disciples, and says: "I +pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that +Thou shouldst keep them from the evil.... Sanctify them;... that +they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; +that they also may be one in Us;... I in them, and Thou in Me, +that they may be made perfect in one;... that the love wherewith +Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." + +Here, again, it is first sanctification (cleansing, being made +holy), then filling, divine union with the Father and the Son +through the Holy Spirit. + +These Scriptures make plain the order of God's work, and if we +looked at them alone, without diligently comparing Scripture with +Scripture, as God would have us do, we might perhaps conclude +that the cleansing and filling were as distinct and separate in +time as they are in this order of statement. + +But other Scriptures give us abundant light on that side of the +subject. In Isaiah vi. 1-8, we have the record of the prophet's +sanctification, and we notice that the cleansing and the filling +were not separate in time. The cleansing was not _before_ +the baptism, but _by_ the baptism. The "live coal" was laid +upon his mouth, and touched his lips; and by this fiery baptism +his iniquity was taken away and his sin was purged. + +In Acts x. 44, we read of Peter's preaching Jesus to Cornelius, +the Roman centurion, and his household; and "while Peter yet +spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard +the word"; and in Acts xv. 7-9, at the first Council in +Jerusalem, we have Peter's rehearsal of the experience of +Cornelius and his household. Peter says: "Men and brethren, ye +know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the +Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel, and +believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, +giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no +difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." +Here we see that their believing, and the sudden descent of the +Holy Ghost with cleansing power into their hearts, constitute one +blessed experience. + +What patient, waiting, expectant faith reckons done, the baptism +with the Holy Ghost actually accomplishes. Between the act of +faith by which a man begins to reckon himself "dead indeed unto +sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans +vi. 11), and the act of the Holy Spirit, which makes the +reckoning good, there may be an interval of time, "a little +while" (Hebrews x. 37); but the act and state of steadfastly, +patiently, joyously, perfectly believing, which is man's part, +and the act of baptising with the Holy Ghost, cleansing as by +fire, which is God's part, bring about the one experience of +entire sanctification, and must not and cannot be logically +looked upon as two distinct blessings, any more than the act of +the husband and the act of the wife can be separated in the one +experience of marriage. + +There are two works and two workers: God and man. Just as my +right arm and my left arm work when my two hands come together, +but the union of the two hands constitute one experience. + +If my left arm acts quickly, my right arm will surely respond. +And so, if the soul, renouncing self and sin and the world, with +ardour of faith in the precious blood for cleansing, and in the +promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit, draws nigh to God, God +will draw nigh to that soul, and the blessed union will be +effected suddenly: and in that instant, what faith has reckoned +done will be done, the death-stroke will be given to "the old +man," sin will die, and the heart will be clean indeed, and +wholly alive toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It will +not be a mere "make-believe" experience, but a gloriously real +one. + +It is possible that some have been led into confusion of thought +on this subject by not considering all the Scriptures bearing on +it. What is it that cleanses or sanctifies, and how? Jesus prays: +"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth." Here it is +the word, or truth, that sanctifies. + +John says: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from +all sin." Here it is the blood. + +Peter says: "God...put no difference between us and them, +purifying their hearts by faith." And Paul says: "That they may +receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are +sanctified by faith." Here it is by faith. + +Again, Paul writes: "God hath from the beginning chosen you to +salvation through sanctification of the Spirit" (2 Thess. ii. +13). And again, "That the offering up of the Gentiles might be +acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost" (Romans xv. 16). +And Peter writes: "To the strangers... elect... through +sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Peter i. I, 2). Here it is the +Spirit that sanctifies or makes clean and holy. + +Is there, then, confusion here? Jesus says, "the truth"; John +says, "the blood"; Paul and Peter say, "faith," and "the Holy +Ghost." Can these be reconciled? Let us see. + +Here is a child in a burning house. A man at the peril of his +life rushes to the spot above which the child stands in awful +danger, and cries out, "Jump, and I will catch you!" + +The child hears, believes, leaps, and the man receives him; but +just as he turns and places the boy in safety, a falling timber +smites him to the ground wounded to death, and his flowing blood +sprinkles the boy whom he has saved. + +A breathless spectator says: "The child's faith saved him." +Another says: "How quick the lad was! His courageous leap saved +him." Another says: "Bless the child! He was in awful danger, and +he just barely saved himself." Another says: "That man's word +just reached the boy's ear in the nick of time, and saved him." +Another says: "God bless that man! He saved that child." And yet +another says: "That boy was saved by blood; by the sacrifice of +that heroic man!" + +Now, what saved the child? Without the man's presence and promise +there would have been no faith; and without faith there would +have been no saving action, and the boy would have perished. The +man's word saved him by inspiring faith. Faith saved him by +leading to proper action. He saved himself by leaping. The man +saved him by sacrificing his own life in order to catch him when +he leaped out. + +Not the child himself alone, nor his faith, nor his brave leap, +nor his rescuer's word, nor his blood, nor the man himself saved +the boy, but they all together saved him; and the boy was not +saved till he was in the arms of the man. + +And so it is faith and works, and the word and the blood and the +Holy Ghost that sanctify. + +The blood, the sacrifice of Christ, underlies all, and is the +meritorious cause of every blessing we receive, but the Holy +Spirit is the active Agent by whom the merits of the blood are +applied to our needs. + +During the American Civil War certain men committed some +dastardly and unlawful deeds, and were sentenced to be shot. On +the day of the execution they stood in a row confronted by +soldiers with loaded muskets, waiting the command to fire. Just +before the command was given, the commanding officer felt a touch +on his elbow, and, turning, saw a young man by his side, who +said, "Sir, there in that row, waiting to be shot, is a married +man. He has a wife and children. He is their bread-winner. If you +shoot him, he will be sorely missed. _Let me take his place._" + +"All right," said the officer; "take his place, if you wish; but +you will be shot." + +"I quite understand that," replied the young man; "but no one +will miss me"; and, going to the condemned man, he pushed him +aside, and took his place. + +Soon the command to fire was given. The volley rang out, and the +young hero dropped dead with a bullet through his heart, while +the other man went free. + +His freedom came to him by blood. Had he, however, neglected the +great salvation, and, despising the blood shed for him, and +refusing the sacrifice of the friend and the righteous claims of +the law, persisted in the same evil ways, he, too, would have +been shot. The blood, though shed for him, would not have availed +to set him free. But he accepted the sacrifice, submitted to the +law, and went home to his wife and children; but it was by the +blood; every breath he henceforth drew, every throb of his heart, +every blessing he enjoyed, or possibly could enjoy, came to him +by the blood. He owed everything from that day forth to the +blood, and every fleeting moment, every passing day, and every +rolling year but increased his debt to the blood which had been +shed for him. + +And so we owe all to the blood of Christ, for we were under +sentence of death--"The soul that sinneth it shall die"; and we +have all sinned, and God, to be holy, must frown upon sin, and +utterly condemn it, and must execute His sentence against it. + +But Jesus suffered for our sins. He died for us. "He was wounded +for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;... and +with His stripes we are healed." "Ye know that ye were not +redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with +the precious blood of Christ" (i Peter i. 18, 19); "Who loved me, +and gave Himself for me" (Gal. ii. 20). And now every blessing we +ever had, or ever shall have, comes to us by the Divine +Sacrifice, by "the precious blood." And "How shall we escape, if +we neglect so great salvation?" His blood is the meritorious +cause not only of our pardon, but of our cleansing, our +sanctification; but the Holy Spirit is the ever-present, living, +active Cause. + +The truth or word which sanctifies is the record God has given us +of His will and of that Divine Sacrifice, that "precious blood." +The faith that purifies is that sure confidence in that word +which leads to renunciation of all self-righteousness, that utter +abandonment to God's will, and full dependence on the merits of +"the precious blood," the "faith that works by love," for "faith +without works is dead." And thus we draw nigh to God, and God +draws nigh to us, and the Holy Ghost falls upon us, comes into +us, and cleanses our hearts by the destruction of sin, and the +shedding abroad within us of the love of God. + +The advocates of entire sanctification as an experience wrought +in the soul by the baptism with the Spirit subsequent to +regeneration call it "the second blessing." + +But many good people object to the term, and say that they have +received the first, second, third, and fiftieth blessing; and no +doubt they have; and yet the people who speak of "the second +blessing" are right, in the sense in which they use the term; and +in that sense there are but the two blessings. + +Some years ago a man heard things about a lady that filled him +with admiration for her, and made him feel that they were of one +mind and heart. Later, he met her for the first time, and fell in +love with her. After some months, following an enlarged +acquaintance and much consideration and prayer, he told her of +his love, and asked her to become his wife; and after due +consideration and prayer on her part she consented, and they +promised themselves to each other; they plighted their faith, and +in a sense gave themselves to each other. + +That was the first blessing, and it filled him with great peace +and joy, but not perfect peace and joy. Now, there were many +blessings following that before the great second blessing came. +Every letter he received, every tender look, every pressure of +the hand, every tone of her voice, every fresh assurance of +enduring and increasing affection was a blessing; but it was not +the second blessing. + +But one day, after patient waiting, which might have been +shortened by mutual consent, if they had thought it wise, and +after full preparation, they came together in the presence of +friends and before a man of God, and in the most solemn and +irrevocable manner gave themselves to each other to become one, +and were pronounced man and wife. That was the second blessing, +an epochal experience, unlike anything which preceded, or +anything to follow. And now their peace and joy and rest were +full. + +There had to be the first and second blessings in this +relationship of man and wife, but there is no third. And yet in +the sense of those who say they have received fifty blessings +from the Lord, there have been countless blessings in their +wedded life; indeed, it has been a river of blessing, broadening +and deepening in gladness and joy and sweet affections and +fellowship with the increasing years. + +But let us not confuse thought by disputing over terms and +wrangling about words. + +The first blessing in Jesus Christ is salvation, with its +negative side of remission of sins and forgiveness, and its +positive side of renewal or regeneration--the new birth--one +experience. + +And the second blessing is entire sanctification, with its +negative side of cleansing, and its positive side of filling with +the Holy Ghost--one whole, rounded, glorious, epochal experience. +And while there may be many refreshings, girdings, illuminations, +and secret tokens and assurances of love and favour, there is no +third blessing in this large sense, in this present time. + +But when time is no more, when the ever-lasting doors have lifted +up, and the King of Glory comes in with His Bride, and, for ever +redeemed and crowned, He makes us to sit down with Him on His +throne, then in eternity we shall have the third blessing--we +shall be glorified. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +IV. + +THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +How shall I know that I am accepted of God?--that I am saved or +sanctified? The Bible declares God's love and pity for sinners, +including me, and reveals His offer of mercy to me in Jesus +Christ, on condition that I fully repent of my sins, and yielding +myself to Him, believe on Jesus Christ, and taking up my cross, +follow Him. But how shall I know that I have met these conditions +in a way to satisfy Him, and that I am myself saved? + +1. The Bible cannot tell me this. It tells me what to do, but it +does not tell me when I have done it, any more than the sign-board +at the country cross-roads, pointing out the road leading to the +city, tells me when I have got to the city. + +2. My religious teachers and friends cannot tell me, for they +cannot read my heart, nor the mind of God toward me. How can they +know when I have in my heart repented and believed, and when His +righteous anger is turned away? + +They can encourage me to repent, believe, obey, and can assure me +that, if I do, He will accept me, and I shall be saved; but +beyond that they cannot go. + +3. My own heart, owing to its darkness and deceitfulness and +liability to error, is not a safe witness previous to the +assurance God Himself gives. If my neighbour is justly offended +with me, it is not my own heart, but his testimony that first +assures me of his favour once more. + +How, then, shall I know that I am justified or wholly sanctified? +There is but one way, and that is by the witness of the Holy +Spirit. God must notify me, and make me to know it; and this He +does, when, despairing of my own works of righteousness, I cast +my poor soul fully and in faith upon Jesus. "For ye have not +received the spirit of bondage again to fear," says Paul, "but ye +have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, +Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that +we are the children of God" (Romans viii. 15, 16). "And because +ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your +hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. iv. 6). Unless He Himself +assures me, I shall never know that He accepts me, but must +continue in uncertainty all my days. + + "Come, Holy Ghost, Thyself impress + On my expanding heart: + And show that in the Father's grace + I share a filial part." + +The General says: "Assurance is produced by the revelation of +forgiveness and acceptance made by God Himself directly to the +soul. This is the witness of the Spirit. It is God testifying in +my soul that He has loved me, and given Himself for me, and +washed me from my sins in His own blood. Nothing short of this +_actual revelation_, made by God Himself, can make anyone +sure of salvation." + +John Wesley says: "By the testimony of the Spirit, I mean an +inward impression of the soul, whereby the Spirit of God +immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit that I am a child +of God; that 'Jesus hath loved me, and given Himself for me'; +that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to +God." + +This witness of the Spirit addressed to my consciousness enables +me to sing with joyful assurance:-- + + "My God is reconciled; + His pardoning voice I hear: + He owns me for His child; + I can no longer fear: + With confidence I now draw nigh, + And, 'Father, Abba, Father,' cry." + +When the Holy Spirit witnesses to me that I am saved and adopted +into God's family as His child, then other evidences begin to +abound also. For instance:-- + +1. My own spirit witnesses that I am a new creature. I know that +old things have passed away, and all things have become new. My +very thoughts and desires have been changed. Love and joy and +peace reign within me. My heart no longer condemns me. Pride and +selfishness, and lust and temper, no longer control my thoughts +nor lead captive my will. I am a new creature, and I know it, and +I infer without doubt that this is the work of God in me. + +2. My conscience bears witness that I am honest and true in all +my purposes and intentions; that I am without guile; that my eye +is single to the glory of God, and that with all simplicity and +sincerity of heart I serve Him; and, since by nature I am only +sinful, I again infer that this sincerity of heart is His blessed +work in my soul, and is a fruit of salvation. + +3. The Bible becomes a witness to my salvation. In it are +accurately portrayed the true characteristics of the children of +God; and as I study it prayerfully, and find these characteristics +in my heart and life, I again infer that I am saved. This is true +self-examination, and is most useful. + +These evidences are most important to guard us against any +mistake as to the witness of the Holy Spirit. + +The witness of the Spirit is not likely to be mistaken for +something else, just as the sun is not likely to be mistaken for +a lesser light, a glow-worm or a moon. But one who has not seen +the sun might mistake some lesser light for the sun. So an +unsaved man may mistake some flash of fancy, some pleasant +emotion, for the witness of the Spirit. But if he is honest, the +absence of these secondary evidences and witnesses will correct +him. He must know that so long as sin masters him, reigns within +him, and he is devoid of the tempers, graces, and dispositions of +God's people, as portrayed in the Bible, that he is mistaken in +supposing that he has the witness of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit +cannot witness to what does not exist. He cannot lie. Not until +sin is forgiven does He witness to the fact. Not until we are +justified from our old sins and born again does He witness that +we are children of God; and when He does so witness, these +secondary evidences always follow. Charles Wesley expresses this +in one of his matchless hymns:-- + + "How can a sinner know + His sins on earth forgiven? + How can my gracious Saviour show + My name inscribed in Heaven? + + "We who in Christ believe + That He for us hath died, + We all His unknown peace receive, + And feel His blood applied. + + "His love, surpassing far + The love of all beneath, + We find within our hearts, and dare + The pointless darts of death. + + "Stronger than death and hell + The mystic power we prove; + And conquerors of the world, we dwell + In Heaven, who dwell in love." + +The witness of the Spirit is far more comprehensive than many +suppose. Multitudes do not believe that there is any such thing, +while others confine it to the forgiveness of sins and adoption +into the family of God. But the truth is that the Holy Spirit +witnesses to much more than this. + +He witnesses to the sinner that he is guilty, condemned before +God, and lost. This we call conviction; but it is none other than +the witness of the Spirit to the sinner's true condition; and +when a man realises it, nothing can convince him to the contrary. +His friends may point out his good works, his kindly disposition, +and try to assure him that he is not a bad man; but, so long as +the Spirit continues to witness to his guilt, nothing can console +him or reassure his quaking heart. This convicting witness may +come to a sinner at any time, but it is usually given under the +searching preaching of the Gospel, or the burning testimony of +those who have been gloriously saved and sanctified; or in time +of danger, when the soul is awed into silence, so that it can +hear the "still small voice" of the Holy Spirit. + +Again, the Holy Spirit not only witnesses to the forgiveness of +sins and acceptance with God, but He also witnesses to sanctification. +"For by one offering," says the Apostle, "He" (that is, Jesus) "hath +perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost +also is a witness to us" (Hebrews x. 14, 15). + +Indeed, one who has this witness can no more doubt it than a man +with two good eyes can doubt the existence of the sun when he +steps forth into the splendour of a cloudless noon-day. It +satisfies him, and he cries out exultingly, "We know, we know!" +Hallelujah! + +Paul seems to teach that the Holy Spirit witnesses to every good +thing God works in us, for he says: "We have received, not the +spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we +might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Cor. +ii. 12). It is for our comfort and encouragement to know our +acceptance of God and our rights, privileges, and possessions in +Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is given for this purpose, that +we may _know_. + +But it is important to bear in mind God's plan of work in this +matter. + +1. The witness of the Spirit is dependent upon our faith. God +does not give it to those who do not believe in Jesus; and if our +faith wavers, the witness will become intermittent; and if faith +fails, it will be withdrawn. Owing to the unsteadiness of their +faith, many young converts get into uncertainty. Happy are they +at such times if some one is at hand to instruct and encourage +them to look steadfastly to Jesus. But, alas! many old Christians +through unsteady faith walk in gloom and uncertainty, and, +instead of encouraging the young, they discourage them. Steadfast +faith will keep the inward witness bright. + +2. We must not get our attention off Jesus, and the promises of +God in Him, and fix it upon the witness of the Spirit. The +witness continues only while we look unto Jesus, and trust and +obey Him. When we take our eyes off Him, the witness is gone. +Many people fail here. Instead of quietly and confidently looking +unto Jesus, and trusting Him, they are vainly looking for the +witness; which is as though a man should try to realise the +sweetness of honey, without receiving it in his mouth; or the +beauty of a picture, while having his eyes turned inward upon +himself instead of outward upon the picture. Jesus saves. Look to +Him, and He will send the Spirit to witness to His work. + +3. The witness may be brightened by diligence in the discharge of +duty, by frequent seasons of glad prayer, by definite testimony +to salvation and sanctification, and by stirring up our faith. + +4. The witness may be dulled by neglect of duty, by sloth in +prayer, by inattention to the Bible, by indefinite, hesitating +testimony, and by carelessness, when we should be careful to walk +soberly and steadfastly with the Lord. + +5. I dare not say that the witness of the Spirit is dependent +upon our health, but there are some forms of nervous and organic +disease that seem to so distract or becloud the mind as to +interfere with the clear discernment of the witness of the +Spirit. I knew a nervous little child who would be so distracted +with fear by an approaching carriage, when being carried across +the street in her father's arms, that she seemed to be incapable +of hearing or heeding his reassuring voice. It may be that there +are some diseases that for the time prevent the sufferer from +discerning the reassuring witness of the Heavenly Father. Dr. Asa +Mahan told me of an experience of this kind which he had in a +very dangerous sickness. And Dr. Daniel Steele had a similar +experience while lying at the point of death with typhoid fever. +But some of the happiest Christians the world has seen have been +racked with pain and tortured with disease. + +And so there may be seasons of fierce temptation when the witness +is not clearly discerned; but we may rest assured that if our +hearts cleave to Jesus Christ and duty, He will never leave or +forsake us. Blessed be God! + +6. But the witness will be lost if we wilfully sin, or +persistently neglect to follow where He leads. This witness is a +pearl of great price, and Satan will try to steal it from us; +therefore, we must guard it with watchful prayer continually. + +7. If lost, it may be found again by prayer and faith and a +dutiful taking up of the cross which has been laid down. +Thousands who have lost it have found it again, and often they +have found it with increased brightness and glory. If you have +lost it, my brother, look up in faith to your loving God, and He +will restore it to you. It is possible to live on the right side +of plain duty without the witness, but you cannot be sure of your +salvation, joyful in service, or glad in God, without it; and +since it is promised to all God's children, no one who professes +to be His should be without it. + +If you have it not, my brother or sister, seek it now by faith in +Jesus. Go to Him, and do not let Him go till He notifies you that +you are His. Listen to Charles Wesley:-- + + "From the world of sin, and noise, + And hurry, I withdraw; + For the small and inward voice + I wait with humble awe; + Silent am I now and still, + Dare not in Thy presence move; + To my waiting soul reveal + The secret of Thy love." + +Do you want the witness to abide? Then study the word of God, and +live by it; sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord; +praise the Lord with your first waking breath in the morning, and +thank Him with your last waking breath at night; flee from sin; +keep on believing; look to Jesus, cleave to Him, follow Him +gladly, trust the efficacy of His blood, and the witness will +abide in your heart. Be patient with the Lord. Let Him mould you, +and "He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will +rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing" (Zeph. iii. +17); and you shall no longer doubt, but know that you are His. +Hallelujah! + + "There are in this loud stunning tide + Of human care and crime, + With whom the melodies abide + Of th' everlasting chime; + Who carry music in their heart + Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, + Plying their task with busier feet + Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." + +And that "holy strain" is but the echo of the Lord's song in +their heart, which is the witness of the Spirit. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +V. + +PURITY. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +A MINISTER of the Gospel, after listening to an eminent servant +of God preaching on entire sanctification through the baptism +with the Spirit, wrote to him, saying: "I like your teaching on +the baptism with the Holy Ghost. I need it, and am seeking it; +but I do not care much for entire sanctification or heart- +cleansing. Pray for me that I may be filled with the Holy Ghost." + +The brother knew him well, and immediately replied: "I am so glad +you believe in the baptism with the Holy Ghost, and are so +earnestly seeking it. I join my prayer with yours that you may +receive that gift. But let me say to you, that if you get the +gift of the Holy Ghost, you will have to take entire sanctification +with it, for the first thing the baptism with the Holy Ghost does +is to cleanse the heart from all sin." + +Thank God, he humbled himself, permitted the Lord to sanctify +him, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and mightily +empowered to work for God. + +Many have looked at the promise of power when the Holy Ghost is +come, the energy of Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost, +and the marvellous results which followed, and they have hastily +and erroneously jumped to the conclusion that the baptism with +the Holy Ghost is for work and service only. + +It does bring power--the power of God, and it does fit for +service, probably the most important service to which any created +beings are commissioned, the proclamation of salvation and the +conditions of peace to a lost world; but not that alone, nor +primarily. The primary, the basal work of the baptism, is that of +cleansing. + +You may turn a flood into your millrace, but until it sweeps away +the logs and brushwood and dirt that obstruct the course, you +cannot get power to turn the wheels of your mill. The flood first +washes out the obstructions, and then you have power. + +The great hindrance in the hearts of God's children to the power +of the Holy Ghost is inbred sin--that dark, defiant, evil +something within that struggles for the mastery of the soul, and +will not submit to be meek and lowly, and patient and forbearing +and holy, as was Jesus; and when the Holy Spirit comes, His first +work is to sweep away that something, that carnal principle, and +make free and clean all the channels of the soul. + +Peter was filled with power on the day of Pentecost; but +evidently the purifying effect of the baptism made a deeper and +more lasting impression upon his mind than the empowering effect; +for years after, in that first Council in Jerusalem, recorded in +the fifteenth chapter of Acts, he stood up and told about the +spiritual baptism of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, and his +household, and he said: "And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare +them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; +and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts +by faith." Here he calls attention not to power, but to purity, +as the effect of the baptism. When the Holy Ghost comes in to +abide, "the old man" goes out. Praise the Lord! + +This destruction of inbred sin is made perfectly plain in that +wonderful Old Testament type of the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fire recorded in the sixth chapter of Isaiah. The prophet was +a most earnest preacher of righteousness (see Isaiah i. 10-20), +yet he was not sanctified wholly. But he had a vision of the Lord +upon His Throne, and the seraphims crying one to another: "Holy, +holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His +glory." And the very "posts of the door moved at the voice of him +that cried"; and how much more should the heart of the prophet be +moved! And so it was; and he cried out: "Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the +midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the +King, the Lord of Hosts." + +When unsanctified men have a vision of God, it is not their lack +of power, but their lack of purity, their unlikeness to Christ, +the Holy One, that troubles them. And so it was with the prophet. +But he adds: "Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a +live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off +the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath +touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin +purged." Here again, it is purity rather than power to which our +attention is directed. + +Again, in the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel, we have another +type of this spiritual baptism. In Isaiah the type was that of +fire, but here it is that of water; for water and oil, and the +wind and rain and dew, are all used as types of the Holy Spirit. + +The Lord says, through Ezekiel: "Then will I sprinkle clean water +upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and +from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I +give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take +away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an +heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause +you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and +do them." + +Here again, the incoming of the Holy Spirit means the outgoing of +all sin, of "all your filthiness, and of all your idols." How +plainly it is taught! And yet, many of God's dear children do not +believe it is their privilege to be free from sin and pure in +heart in this life. But, may we not? Let us consider this. + +1. It is certainly _desirable_. Every sincere Christian--and +none can be a Christian who is not sincere--wants to be free from +sin, to be pure in heart, to be like Christ. Sin is hateful to +every true child of God. The Spirit within him cries out against +the sin, the wrong temper, the pride, the lust, the selfishness, +the evil that lurks within the heart. Surely, it is desirable to +be free from sin. + + "He wills that I should holy be: + That holiness I long to feel; + That full Divine conformity + To all my Saviour's righteous will." + +2. It is _necessary_, for "without holiness no man shall see +the Lord." Sometime, somehow, somewhere, sin must go out of our +hearts--all sin--or we cannot go into Heaven. Sin would spoil +Heaven just as it spoils earth; just as it spoils the peace of +hearts and homes, of families and neighbourhoods and nations +here. Why God in His wisdom allows sin in the world, I do not +know, I cannot understand. But this I understand: that He has one +world into which He will not let sin enter. He has notified us in +advance that no sin, nothing that defiles, can enter Heaven, can +mar the blessedness of that holy place. "Who shall ascend into +the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He +that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up +his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" We must get rid of +sin to get into Heaven, to enjoy the full favour of God. It is +necessary. + + "Choose I must, and soon must choose + Holiness, or Heaven lose. + If what Heaven loves I hate, + Shut for me is Heaven's gate! + + "Endless sin means endless woe; + Into endless sin I go + If my soul, from reason rent, + Takes from sin its final bent. + + "As the stream its channel grooves, + And within that channel moves; + So does habit's deepest tide + Groove its bed and there abide. + + "Light obeyed increaseth light; + Light resisted bringeth night; + Who shall give me will to choose + If the love of light I lose? + + "Speed, my soul, this instant yield; + Let the light its sceptre wield. + While thy God prolongs His grace, + Haste thee to His holy face." + +3. This purification from sin is _promised_. Nothing can be +plainer than the promise of God on this point. "Then will I +sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from +_all_ your filthiness and from _all_ your idols will I cleanse +you." When all is removed, nothing remains. When all filthiness +and all idols are taken away, none are left. + +"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin +hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through +righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans +v. 20, 21). Grace reigns, not through sin, but "through +righteousness" which has expelled sin. Grace brings in +righteousness and sin goes out. + +"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have +fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His +Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John i. 7). Hallelujah! + +"Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of +righteousness" (Romans vi. 18). + +These are sample promises and assurances any one of which is +sufficient to encourage us to believe that our Heavenly Father +will save us from all sin, if we meet His conditions. + +4. And that deliverance is _possible_. It was for this that +Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, came into the world, and suffered +and died, that He might "save His people from their sins" +(Matthew i. 21). It was for this that He shed His precious blood: +to "cleanse us from all sin." It was for this that the word of +God, with its wonderful promises, was given: "That by these ye +might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter i. 4); by +which is meant, escape from inbred sin. It was for this that +ministers of the Gospel--Salvation Army Officers--are given, "for +the perfecting of the saints" (Eph. iv. 12), for the saving and +sanctifying of men (Acts xxvi. 18). It is primarily for this that +the Holy Ghost comes as a baptism of fire: that sin might be +consumed out of us, so that we might be "made meet for the +inheritance of the saints in light"; that so we might be ready +without a moment's warning to go into the midst of the heavenly +hosts in white garments, "washed in the blood of the Lamb." Glory +be to God for ever and ever! + +And shall all these mighty agents and this heavenly provision, +and these gracious purposes of God, fail to destroy sin out of +any obedient, believing heart? Is sin omnipotent? No! + +If you, my brother, my sister, will look unto Jesus just now, +trusting the merits of His blood, and receive the Holy Spirit +into your heart, you shall be "made free from sin"; it "shall not +have dominion over you." Hallelujah! Under the fiery touch of His +holy presence, your iniquity shall be taken away, and your sin +shall be purged. And you yourself shall burn as did the bush on +the mount of God which Moses saw; yet you, like the bush, shall +not be consumed; and by this holy fire, this flame of love, +that consumes sin, you shall be made proof against that +unquenchable fire that consumes sinners. + + "Come, Holy Ghost, Thy mighty aid bestowing; + Destroy the works of sin, the self, the pride; + Burn, burn in me, my idols overthrowing: + Prepare my heart for Him, for my Lord crucified." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +VI. + +POWER. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +JUST before His ascension, Jesus met His disciples for the last +time, and repeated His command that they should "not depart from +Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father," and +reiterated His promise that they should be "baptised with the +Holy Ghost not many days hence." + +Then "they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time +restore again the kingdom to Israel?" They were still eager for +an earthly kingdom. But "He said unto them, It is not for you to +know the time or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His +own power," or authority. And then He added, "But ye shall +receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." + +They wanted power, and He assured them that they should have it, +but said nothing of its nature, or the work and activities into +which it would thrust them, and for which it would equip them, +beyond the fact that they should be witnesses unto Him "in +Jerusalem and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the +earth." After that the Holy Ghost Himself was henceforth to be +their Teacher. + +And then Jesus left them. Earth lost its power to hold Him, and +while they beheld Him He began to ascend; a cloud bent low from +Heaven, receiving Him out of sight, and they were left alone, +with His promise of power ringing in their ears, and His command +to "wait for the promise of the Father" checking any impatience +that might lead them to "go a-fishing," as Peter had done some +days before, or cause an undue haste to begin their life-work of +witnessing for Him before God's appointed time. + +For ten days they waited, not listlessly, but eagerly, as a maid +for her mistress, or a servant for his master, who is expected to +come at any moment; they forgot their personal ambitions; they +ceased to judge and criticise one another, and in the sweet unity +of brotherly love, "with one accord" they rejoiced, they prayed, +they waited; and then on the day of Pentecost, at their early +morning prayer meeting, when they were all present, the windows +of Heaven were opened, and such a blessing as they could not +contain was poured out upon them. "And suddenly there came a +sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all +the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them +cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And +they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." + +This was the inaugural day of the Church of God: the dawn of the +dispensation of the Holy Spirit; the beginning of the days of +power. + +In the morning of that day there were only a few Christians in +the world; the New Testament was not written, and it is doubtful +if they had among them all a copy of the Old Testament; they had +no church buildings, no colleges, no religious books and papers; +they were poor and despised, unlearned and ignorant; but before +night they had enrolled three thousand converts from among those +who, a few weeks before, had crucified their Lord, and they had +aroused and filled all Jerusalem with questionings and amazement. + +What was the secret? Power. What was the secret? God the Holy +Ghost. He had come, and this work was His work, and they were His +instruments. + +When Jesus came, a body was prepared for Him (Hebrews x. 5), and +through that body He wrought His wondrous works; but when the +other Comforter comes, He takes possession of those bodies that +are freely and fully presented to Him, and He touches their lips +with grace; He shines peacefully and gloriously on their faces; +He flashes beams of pity and compassion and heavenly affection +from their eyes; He kindles a fire of love in their hearts, and +lights the flame of truth in their minds. They become His temple, +and their hearts are a holy of holies in which His blessed +presence ever abides, and from that central citadel He works, +enduing the man who has received Him with power. + +If you ask how the Holy Spirit can dwell within us and work +through us without destroying our personality, I cannot tell. How +can the electric fluid fill and transform a dead wire into a live +one, which you dare not touch? How can a magnetic current fill a +piece of steel, and transform it into a mighty force which by its +touch can raise tons of iron, as a child would lift a feather? +How can fire dwell in a piece of iron until its very appearance +is that of fire, and it becomes a fire-brand? I cannot tell. + +Now, what fire and electricity and magnetism do in iron and +steel, the Holy Spirit does in the spirits of men who believe on +Jesus, follow Him wholly, and trust Him intelligently. He dwells +in them, and inspires them, till they are all alive with the very +life of God. + +The transformation wrought in men by the baptism with the Holy +Ghost, and the power that fills them, are amazing beyond measure. +The Holy Spirit gives-- + +1. _Power over the world_. They become + + "Dead to the world and all its toys, + Its idle pomps and fading joys." + +The world masters and enslaves people who have not the Holy +Spirit. To one man it offers money, and he falls down and +worships; sells his conscience and character for gold. To another +it offers power, and he falls down and worships and sacrifices +his principles and sears his conscience for power. To another it +offers pleasure; to another learning; to another fame, and they +fall down and worship, and sell themselves for these things. But +the man filled with the Holy Ghost is free. He can turn from +these things without a pang, as he would from pebbles; or, he can +take them and use them as his servants for the glory of God and +the good of men. + +What did Peter and James and John care for the great places in +the kingdoms of this world after they were filled with the Holy +Ghost? They would not have exchanged places with Herod the king +or with Caesar himself. For the gratification of any personal +ambition these things were no more attractive to them now than +the lordship over a tribe of ants on their tiny hill. They were +now kings and priests unto God, and theirs was an everlasting +kingdom, and its glory exceeds the glory of the kingdoms of this +world as the splendour of the sun exceeds that of the glow-worm. + +The head of some great business enterprises was making many +thousands of dollars every year; but when the Holy Spirit filled +him money lost its power over him. He still retained his +position, and made vast sums; but, as a steward of the Lord, he +poured it into God's work, and has been doing so for more than +thirty years. + +The disciples in Jerusalem after Pentecost held all their +possessions in common, so completely were they freed from the +power and love of money. + +A rising young lawyer got filled with the Spirit, and the next +day said to his client: "I cannot plead your case. I have a +retainer from the Lord Jesus"; and he became one of the mightiest +preachers the world has ever seen. + +A popular lad got the fiery baptism, and went to his baseball +team, and said: "Boys, you swear, and I am now a Christian, and I +cannot play with you any more"; and God made him the wonder of +all his old friends, and a happy winner of souls. + +A fashionable woman got the baptism, and God gave her power to +break away from her worldly set and surroundings, live wholly for +Him, and gave her an influence that girdled the globe. + +Paul said: "The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the +world." Men could whip, and stone, and imprison his body, and cut +off his head, but his soul was free. It was enslaved and driven +by no unholy or inordinate ambition, by no lust for gold, by no +desire for power or fame, by no fear of man, by no shame of +worldly censure or adverse public opinion. He had power over the +world, and this same power is the birthright of every converted +man, and the present possession of every one who is wholly +sanctified by the baptism with the Holy Ghost. + +2. _Power over the flesh_. The body which God intended for a +"house beautiful" for the soul, and a temple holy unto Himself, +is often reduced to a sty, where the imprisoned soul wallows in +lusts and passions, and degrades itself below the level of +beasts. But this baptism gives a man power over his body. + +God has given to man such desires and passions as are necessary +to secure his continued existence, and not one is in itself evil, +but good and only good; and when controlled and used, but not +abused, will help to develop and maintain the purest and highest +manhood. The appetites for food and drink are necessary to life. +Another desire is intended to secure the continuance of the human +race. And so all the desires and appetites of the body have +useful ends, and were given to us in love by our Heavenly Father +for high and essential purposes, and are necessary to us as human +beings. + +But the soul, cut off from fellowship with God, by sin, seeks +satisfaction in sensual excesses, and the unlawful gratification +of these appetites, and so sinks to depths of degradation to +which no beast ever falls. Thus man becomes a slave; swollen and +raging passion takes the place of innocent appetites and desires. + +Now, when the Holy Spirit enters the heart and sanctifies the +soul, He does not destroy these desires, but He purifies and +regulates them. He reinforces the soul with the fear and love of +God, and gives it power, complete power, over the fleshly +appetites. He restores it to its full fellowship with God and its +kingship over the body. + +But while these appetites and desires are not in themselves +sinful, but are necessary for our welfare and our complete +manhood, and while their diseased and abnormal power is cured +when we are sanctified, they are still avenues through which we +may be tempted. Therefore, they must be guarded with care and +ruled in wisdom. Many people stumble at and reject the doctrine +of entire sanctification, because they do not understand these +things. They mistake that which is natural and essential to a +human being for the diseased and abnormal propensity caused by +sin, and so miss the blessed truth of full salvation. + +I knew a doctor, who had used tobacco for over sixty years, +delivered from the abnormal appetite instantly through sanctification +of the Spirit. I knew an old man, who had been a drunkard for over +fifty years, similarly delivered. I knew a young man, the slave of a +vicious habit of the flesh, who was set free at once by the fiery +baptism. The electric current cannot transform the dead wire into +a live one quicker than the Holy Spirit can flood a soul with light +and love, destroy the carnal mind, and fill a man with power over +all sin. + +3. _Power over the Devil_. The indwelling presence of the +Holy Spirit destroys all doubt as to the personality of the +Devil. He is discerned, and his malice is felt and known as never +before. + +In the dark a man may be so skilfully attacked that his enemy is +not discovered, but not in the day. Many people in these days +deny that there is any Devil, only evil; but they are in the +dark, so much in the dark that they not only say that there is no +Devil, but that there is no personal God, only good. But the day +comes with the Holy Spirit's entrance, and then God is intimately +known and the Devil is discovered. And as he assailed Jesus after +His baptism with the Spirit, so he does to-day all who receive +the Holy Ghost. He comes as an angel of light to deceive, and as +a roaring lion to devour and overcome with fear; but the soul +filled with the Spirit outwits the Devil, and, clad in the whole +armour of God, overcomes the old enemy. + +"Power over all the power of the enemy" is God's purpose for all +His children. Power to do the will of God patiently and +effectively, with naturalness and ease, or to suffer the will of +God with patience and good cheer, comes with this blessed +baptism. It is power for service or sacrifice, according to God's +will. Have you this power? If not, it is for you. Yield yourself +fully to Christ just now, and if you ask in faith you shall +receive. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +VII. + +TRYING THE SPIRITS. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Those who have not the Holy Spirit, or who do not heed Him, fall +easily and naturally into formalism, substituting lifeless +ceremonies, sacraments, genuflections, and ritualistic performances +for the free, glad, living worship inspired by the indwelling +Spirit. They sing, but not from the heart. They say their prayers, +but they do not really pray. "I prayed last night, mother," said a +child. "Why, my child, you pray every night!" replied the mother. +"No," said the child, "I only said prayers, but last night I really +prayed." And his face shone. He had opened his heart to the Holy +Spirit, and had at last really talked with God and worshipped. + +But those who receive the Holy Spirit may fall into fanaticism, +unless they follow the command of John to "try the spirits, +whether they are of God." + +We are commanded to "despise not prophesyings," but at the same +time we are commanded to "prove all things." "Many false prophets +are gone out into the world," and, if possible, will lead us +astray. So we must beware. As some one has written, we must +"Believe not every spirit; regard not, trust not, follow not, +every pretender to the Spirit of God, or every professor of +vision, or inspiration, or revelation from God." + +The higher and more intense the life, the more carefully must it +be guarded, lest it be endangered and go astray. It is so in the +natural world, and likewise in the spiritual world. + +When Satan can no longer rock people to sleep with religious +lullabys, or satisfy them with the lifeless form, then he comes +as an angel of light, probably in the person of some professor or +teacher of religion, and seeks to usurp the place of the Holy +Spirit; but instead of leading "into all truth," he leads the +unwary soul into deadly error; instead of directing him on to the +highway of holiness, and into the path of perfect peace, where no +ravenous beast ever comes, he leads him into a wilderness where +the soul, stripped of its beautiful garments of salvation, is +robbed and wounded and left to die, if some good Samaritan, with +patient pity and Christlike love, come not that way. + +1. When the Holy Spirit comes in His fullness, He strips men of +their self-righteousness and pride and conceit. They see +themselves as the chief of sinners, and realise that only through +the stripes of Jesus are they healed; and ever after, as they +live in the Spirit, their boast is in Him and their glory is in +the cross. Remembering the hole of the pit from which they were +digged, they are filled with tender pity for all who are out of +the way; and, while they do not excuse or belittle sin, yet they +are slow to believe evil, and their judgments are full of +charity. + + "Judge not; the workings of his brain + And of his heart thou canst not see: + What looks to thy dim eyes a stain, + In God's pure light may only be + A scar, brought from some well-won field, + Where thou wouldst only faint and yield." + +But the man who has been thus snared by Satan forgets his own +past miserable state, and boasts of his righteousness, and thanks +God that he was never as other men, and he begins to beat his +fellow-servants with heavy denunciations, and thrust them through +with sharp criticisms, and pelt them with hard words. He ceases +to pity, and begins to condemn; he no longer warns and entreats +men in tender love, but is quick to believe evil, and swift to +pass judgment, not only upon their actions, but upon their +motives as well. + +True charity has no fellowship with deeds of darkness. It never +calls evil good, it does not wink at iniquity, but it is as far +removed from this sharp, condemning spirit as light is from +darkness, as honey is from vinegar. It is quick to condemn sin, +but is full of saving, long-suffering compassion for the sinner. + +2. A humble, teachable mind marks those in whom the Holy Spirit +dwells. They esteem very highly in love those who are over them +in the Lord, and are glad to be admonished by them. They submit +themselves one to the other in the fear of the Lord, welcome +instruction and correction, and esteem "open rebuke better than +secret love" (Proverbs xxvii. 5). They believe that the Lord has +yet many things to say unto them, and they are willing and glad +for Him to say them by whom He will, but especially by their +leaders and their brethren. While they do not fawn and cringe +before men, nor believe everything that is said to them, without +proving it by the word and Spirit of God, they believe that God +"gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; +and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, +for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of +Christ"; and, like Cornelius, they are ready to hear these +appointed ministers, and receive the word of the Lord from them. + +But Satan seeks to destroy all this lowliness of spirit and +humbleness of mind. Those in whom his deadly work has begun are +"wiser in their own conceit than seven men that can render a +reason." They are wiser than all their teachers, and no man can +instruct them. One of these deluded souls, who had previously +been marked by modesty and humility, declared of certain of God's +chosen leaders whose spiritual knowledge and wisdom were +everywhere recognised, that "the whole of them knew no more +about the Holy Ghost than an old goose." Paul, Luther, and Wesley +were much troubled, and their work greatly hurt, by some of these +misguided souls, and every great spiritual awakening is likely to +be marred more or less by such people; so that we cannot be too +much on our guard against false spirits who would counterfeit the +work and leadings of the Holy Spirit. + +It is this huge conceit that has led some men to announce +themselves as apostles and prophets to whom all men must listen, +or fall under the wrath of God; while others have declared that +they were living in resurrection bodies and should not die; and +yet others have reached that pitch of fanaticism where they could +calmly proclaim themselves to be the Messiah, or the Holy Ghost +in bodily form. Such people will be quick to deny the infallibility +of the Pope, while they assume their own infallibility, and +denounce all who dispute it. + +The Holy Spirit may lead to a holy rivalry in love and humility +and brotherly kindness and self-denial and good works, but He +never leads men into the swelling conceit of such exclusive +knowledge and superior wisdom that they can no longer be taught +by their fellow-men. + +3. Again, the man who is filled with the Spirit is tolerant of +those who differ from him in opinion, in doctrine. He is firm in +his own convictions, and ready at all times with meekness and +fear to explain and defend the doctrines which he holds and is +convinced are according to God's word, but he does not condemn +and consign to damnation all those who differ from him. He is +glad to believe that men are often better than their creed, and +may be saved in spite of it; that, like mountains whose bases are +bathed with sunshine and clothed with fruitful fields and +vineyards, while their tops are covered with dark clouds, so +men's hearts are often fruitful in the graces of charity, while +their heads are yet darkened by doctrinal error. + +Anyway, as "the servant of the Lord," he will "not strive; but be +gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness +instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure +will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and +that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil" +(2 Timothy ii. 24-26). + +But when Satan comes as an angel of light he will, under guise of +love for and loyalty to the truth, introduce the spirit of +intolerance. It was this spirit that crucified Jesus; that burned +Huss and Cranmer at the stake; that strangled Savonarola; that +inspired the massacre of St. Bartholomew and the horrors of the +Inquisition; and it is the same spirit, in a milder but possibly +more subtle form, that blinds the eyes of many professing +Christians to any good in those who differ from them in doctrine, +forms of worship or methods of government. They murder love to +protect what they often blindly call truth. What is truth without +love? A dead thing, an encumbrance, the letter that killeth! + +The body is necessary to our life in this world, but life can +exist in a deformed and even mutilated body; and such a body with +life in it is better than the most perfect body that is only a +corpse. So, while truth is most precious, and sound doctrine to +be esteemed more than silver and gold, yet love can exist where +truth is not held in its most perfect and complete forms, and +love is the one thing needful. + + "The love of God is broader + Than the measure of man's mind: + And the heart of the Eternal + Is most wonderfully kind." + +4. The Holy Ghost begets a spirit of unity among Christians. +People who have been sitting behind their sectarian fences in +self-complacent ease, or proud indifference, or proselytising +zeal, or grim defiance, are suddenly lifted above the fence, and +find sweet fellowship with each other, when He comes into their +hearts. + +They delight in each other's society; they each esteem others +better than themselves, and in honour they prefer one another +before themselves. They fulfil the Psalmist's ideal: "Behold, how +good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in +unity." Here is a picture of the unity of Christians in the +beginning in Jerusalem: "And they were all filled with the Holy +Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the +multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one +soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he +possessed was his own; but they had all things common." What an +ideal is this! And since it has been attained once, it can be +attained again and retained, but only by the indwelling of the +Holy Ghost. It was for this that Jesus poured out His heart in +His great intercessory prayer, recorded in John xvii., just +before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. He says, "I pray +for them.... Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also +which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may +be one." And what was the standard of unity to which He would +have us come? Listen! + +"As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be +one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." +Such unity has a wondrous power to compel the belief of worldly +men. "And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that +they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, +that they may be perfect in one; and that the world may +_know_ that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou +hast loved Me." Wondrous unity! Wondrous love! + +It is for this His blessed heart eternally yearns, and it is for +this that the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of those who +receive Him. But Satan ever seeks to destroy this holy love and +divine unity. When he comes, he arouses suspicions, he stirs up +strife, he quenches the spirit of intercessory prayer, he +engenders backbitings, and causes separations. + +After enumerating various Christian graces, and urging the +Colossians to put them on, Paul adds: "And above all these +things, put on charity," or love, "which is the bond of +perfectness" (Col. iii. 14). These graces were garments, and love +was the girdle which bound and held them together; and so love is +the bond that holds true Christians together. + +Divine love is the great test by which we are to try ourselves +and all teachers and spirits. + +Love is not puffed up. Love is not bigoted. Love is not +intolerant. Love is not schismatic. Love is loyal to Jesus and to +all His people. If we have this love shed abroad in our hearts by +the Holy Ghost, we shall discern the voice of our Good Shepherd, +and we shall not be deceived by the voice of the stranger; and so +we shall be saved from both formalism and fanaticism. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +VIII. + +GUIDANCE. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +It is the work of the Holy Spirit to guide the people of God +through the uncertainties and dangers and duties of this life to +their home in Heaven. When He led the children of Israel out of +Egypt, by the hand of Moses, He guided them through the waste, +mountainous wilderness, in a pillar of cloud by day and of fire +by night, thus assuring their comfort and safety. And this was +but a type of His perpetual spiritual guidance of His people. + +"But how may I certainly know what God wants of me?" is sure to +become the earnest and, oftentimes, the agonising cry of every +humble and devoutly zealous young Christian. "How may I know the +guidance of the Holy Spirit?" is asked again and again. + +1. It is well for us to get it fixed in our minds that we need to +be guided always by Him. A ship was wrecked on a rocky coast far +out of the course that the captain thought he was taking. On +examination, it was found that the compass had been slightly +deflected by a bit of metal that had lodged in the box. + +But the voyage of life on which we each one sail is beset by as +many dangers as the ship at sea, and how shall we surely steer +our course to our heavenly harbour without Divine guidance? There +is a wellnigh infinite number of influences to deflect us from +the safe and certain course. We start out in the morning, and we +know not what person we may meet, what paragraph we may read, +what word may be spoken, what letter we may receive, what subtle +temptation may assail or allure us, what immediate decisions we +may have to make during the day, that may turn us almost +imperceptibly, but none the less surely, from the right way. We +need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. + +2. We not only need Divine guidance, but we may have it. God's +word assures us of this. Oh! how my heart was comforted and +assured one morning by these words: "And the Lord shall guide +thee continually" (Isaiah lviii. 11). Not occasionally, not +spasmodically, but "continually." Hallelujah! The Psalmist says: +"This God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our Guide even +unto death" (Psalm xlviii. 14). Again, he says: "The meek will +He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way" (Psalm +xxv. 9). And again, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the +way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye" (Psalm +xxxii. 8). And again, "Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel" +(Psalm Ixxiii. 24). Jesus said of the Holy Spirit: "Howbeit when +He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all +truth" (John xvi. 13). And Paul wrote: "As many as are led by the +Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans viii. 14). + +These Scriptures establish the fact that the children of God may +be guided always by the Spirit of God. + + "Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, + Pilgrim through this barren land! + I am weak, but Thou art mighty: + Hold me with Thy powerful hand." + +3. How does God guide us? + +Paul says: "We walk by faith, not by sight," and, "The just shall +live by faith," so we may conclude:-- + +(a) That the guidance of the Holy Spirit is such as still to +demand the exercise of faith. God never leads us in such a way as +to do away with the necessity of faith. When God warned Noah, we +read that it was by faith that Noah was led to build the ark. +When God told Abraham to go to a land which He would show him, it +was by faith that Abraham went (Hebrews xi. 7, 8). If we believe, +we shall surely be guided; but if we do not believe, we shall be +left to ourselves. Without faith it is impossible to please God, +or to follow where He leads. Again, the Psalmist says, "The meek +will He guide in judgment," from which we gather:-- + +(b) That the Spirit guides us in such manner as to demand the +exercise of our best judgment. He enlightens our understanding +and directs our judgment by sound reason and sense. + +I knew a man who was eager to obey God, and to be led by the +Spirit, but who had the mistaken idea that the Holy Spirit sets +aside human judgment and common sense, and speaks directly upon +the most minute and commonplace matters. He wanted the Holy +Spirit to direct him just how much to eat at each meal, and he +has been known to take food out of his mouth at what he supposed +to be the Holy Spirit's notification that he had eaten enough, +and that if he swallowed that mouthful, it would be in violation +of the leadings of the Spirit. + +No doubt, the Spirit will help an honest man to arrive at a safe +judgment even in matters of this kind, but it will doubtless be +through the use of his sanctified common sense. Otherwise, he is +reduced to a state of mental infancy, and kept in intellectual +swaddling clothes. He will guide us in judgment; but it is only +as we resolutely, and in the best light we have, exercise +judgment. + +John Wesley said that God usually guided him by presenting +reasons to his mind for any given course of action. + +(c) The Psalmist says, "Thou shalt guide me with Thy +counsel," and "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way +that thou shalt go." Now, counsel, instruction, and teaching not +only imply effort upon the part of the teacher, but also study +and close attention on the part of the one being taught. So this +guidance of the Holy Spirit is such as will require us to +attentively listen, diligently study, and patiently learn the +lessons He would teach us. And so we see that the Holy Spirit +does not set aside our powers and faculties, but seeks to awaken +and stir them into full activity, and develop them into well- +rounded perfection, and thus make them channels through which He +can intelligently influence and direct us. + +What He seeks to do is to illuminate our whole spiritual being, +as the sun illuminates our physical being, and bring us into such +union and sympathy, such oneness of thought, desire, affection, +and purpose with God, that we shall, by a kind of spiritual +instinct, know at all times the mind of God concerning us, and +never be in doubt about His will. + +4. The Holy Spirit guides us-- + +(a) By opening up to our minds the deep, sanctifying truths of +the Bible, and especially by revealing to us the character and +spirit of Jesus and His Apostles, and leading us to follow in +their footsteps--the footsteps of their faith and love and +unselfish devotion to God and man, even unto the laying down of +their lives. + +(b) By the circumstances and surroundings of our daily life. + +(c) By the counsel of others, especially of devout, and wise, and +experienced men and women of God. + +(d) By deep inward conviction, which increases as we wait +upon Him in prayer and readiness to obey. It is by this sovereign +conviction that men are called to preach, to go to foreign fields +as missionaries, to devote their time, talents, money, and lives +to God's work for the bodies and souls of men. + +5. Why do people seek for guidance and not find it? + +(a) Because they do not diligently study God's word, and +seek to be filled with its truths and principles. They neglect +the cultivation of their minds and hearts in the school of +Christ, and so miss Divine guidance. One of the mightiest men of +God now living used to carry his Bible with him into the coal +mine when only a boy, and spent his spare time filling his mind +and heart with its heavenly truths, and so prepared himself to be +divinely led in mighty labours for God. + +(b) They do not humbly accept the daily providences, the +circumstances, and conditions of their everyday life as a part of +God's present plan for them; as His school in which He would +train them for greater things; as His vineyard in which He would +have them diligently labour. + +A young woman imagined she was called to devote herself entirely +to saving souls; but under the searching training through which +she had to pass saw her selfishness, and she said she would have +to return home, and live a holy life there, and seek to get her +family saved--something which she had utterly neglected--before +she could go into the work. If we are not faithful at home, or in +the shop, or mill, or store where we work, we shall miss God's +way for us. + +(c) Because they are not teachable, and are unwilling to receive +instruction from other Christians. They are not humble-minded. + +(d) Because they do not wait on God, and listen and heed the +inner leadings of the Holy Spirit. They are self-willed; they +want their own way. Some one has said, "That which is often asked +of God is not so much His will and way, as His approval of our +way." And another has said: "God's guidance is plain, when we are +true." If we promptly and gladly obey, we shall not miss the way. +Paul said of himself, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly +vision." He obeyed God at all costs, and so the Holy Spirit could +guide him. + +(e) Because of fear and unbelief. It was this fearfulness of +unbelief that caused the Israelites to turn back, and not go into +Canaan when Caleb and Joshua assured them that God would help +them to possess the land. They lost sight of God, and feared the +giants and walled cities, and so missed God's way for them and +perished in the wilderness. + +(f) Because they do not take everything promptly and confidently +to God in prayer. + +Paul tells us to be "instant in prayer"; and I am persuaded that +it is slowness and delay to pray, and sloth and sleepiness in +prayer, that rob God's children of the glad assurance of His +guidance in all things. + +(g) Because of impatience and haste. Some of God's plans +for us unfold slowly, and we must patiently and calmly wait on +Him in faith and faithfulness, assured that in due time He will +make plain His way for us, if our faith fail not. It is never +God's will that we should get into a headlong hurry; but that, +with patient steadfastness, we should learn to stand still when +the pillar of cloud and fire does not move, and that with loving +confidence and glad promptness we should strike our tents and +march forward when He leads. + + "When we cannot see our way, + Let us trust and still obey; + He who bids us forward go, + Cannot fail the way to show. + Though the sea be deep and wide, + Though a passage seem denied; + Fearless, let us still proceed, + Since the Lord vouchsafes to lead." + +Finally, we may rest assured that the Holy Spirit never leads His +people to do anything that is wrong, or that is contrary to the +will of God as revealed in the Bible. He never leads anyone to be +impolite and discourteous. "Be courteous" is a Divine command. He +would have us respect the minor graces of gentle, kindly manners, +as well as the great laws of holiness and righteousness. + +He may sometimes lead us in ways that are hard for flesh and +blood, and that bring to us sorrow and loss in this life. He led +Jesus into the wilderness to be sore tried by the Devil, and to +Pilate's judgment hall, and to the cross. He led Paul in ways +that meant imprisonment, stonings, whippings, hunger and cold, +and bitter persecution and death. But He upheld Paul until he +cried out: "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in +necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake." +"Yea," said he, "I glory in my infirmities, that the power of +Christ may rest upon me." Hallelujah! Oh, to be thus led by our +Heavenly Guide! + + "He leadeth me! Oh, blessed thought! + Oh, words with heavenly comfort fraught! + Whate'er I do, where'er I be, + Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. + + "Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom, + Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, + By waters still, o'er troubled sea, + Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. + + "Lord, I will clasp Thy hand in mine, + Nor ever murmur nor repine, + Content, whatever lot I see, + Since 'tis my God that leadeth me. + + "And when my task on earth is done, + When by Thy grace the victory's won, + E'en death's cold wave I will not flee, + Since God through Jordan leadeth me." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +IX. + +THE MEEK AND LOWLY HEART. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +I know a man whose daily prayer for years was that he might be +meek and lowly in heart as was his Master. "Take My yoke upon +you, and learn of Me," said Jesus; "for I am meek and lowly in +heart." + +How lowly Jesus was! He was the Lord of life and glory. He made +the worlds, and upholds them by His word of power (John i., +Hebrews i.). But He humbled Himself, and became man, and was born +of the Virgin in a manger among the cattle. He lived among the +common people, and worked at the carpenter's bench. And then, +anointed with the Holy Spirit, He went about doing good, +preaching the Gospel to the poor, and ministering to the manifold +needs of the sick and sinful and sorrowing. He touched the +lepers; He was the Friend of publicans and sinners. His whole +life was a ministry of mercy to those who most needed Him. He +humbled Himself to our low estate. He was a King who came "lowly, +and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass" +(Zech. ix. 9). He was a King, but His crown was of thorns, and a +cross was His throne. + +What a picture Paul gives us of the mind and heart of Jesus! He +exhorts the Philippians, saying, "Let nothing be done through +strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem +other better than themselves"; and then he adds, "Let this mind +be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form +of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made +Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a +servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in +fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto +death, even the death of the cross." + +Now, when the Holy Spirit finds His way into the heart of a man, +the Spirit of Jesus has come to that man, and leads him to the +same meekness of heart and lowly service that were seen in the +Master. + +Ambition for place and power and money and fame vanishes, and in +its place is a consuming desire to be good and do good, to +accomplish in full the blessed, the beneficent will of God. + +Some time ago I met a woman who, as a trained nurse in Paris, +nursing rich, English-speaking foreigners, received pay that in a +few years would have made her independently wealthy; but the +spirit of Jesus came into her heart, and she is now nursing the +poor, and giving her life to them, and doing for them service the +most loathsome and exacting, and doing it with a smiling face, +for her food and clothes. + +Some able men in one of our largest American cities lost their +spiritual balance, cut themselves loose from all other Christians, +and made for a time quite a religious stir among many good people. +They were very clear and powerful in their presentation of certain +phases of truth, but they were also very strong, if not bitter, +in their denunciations of all existing religious organisations. +They attacked the churches and The Salvation Army, pointing out +what they considered wrong so skilfully, and with such professions +of sanctity, that many people were made most dissatisfied with the +churches and with The Army. + +An Army Captain listened to them, and was greatly moved by their +fervour, their burning appeals, their religious ecstasy, and +their denunciations of the lukewarmness of other Christians, +including The Army. She began to wonder if after all they were +not right, and whether or not the Holy Spirit was amongst us. Her +heart was full of distress, and she cried to God. And then the +vision of our Slum Officers rose before her eyes. She saw their +devotion, their sacrifice, their lowly, hidden service, year +after year, among the poor and ignorant and vicious, and she said +to herself, "Is not this the Spirit of Jesus? Would these men, +who denounce us so, be willing to forgo their religious ecstasies +and spend their lives in such lowly, unheralded service?" And the +mists that had begun to blind her eyes were swept away, and she +saw Jesus still amongst us going about doing good in the person +of our Slum Officers and of all who for His name's sake sacrifice +their time and money and strength to bless and save their +fellow-men. + +You who have visions of glory and rapturous delight, and so count +yourselves filled with the Spirit, do these visions lead you to +virtue and to lowly, loving service? If not, take heed to +yourselves, lest, exalted like Capernaum to Heaven, you are at +last cast down to Hell. Thank God for the mounts of transfiguration +where we behold His glory! but down below in the valley are +children possessed of devils, and to them He would have us go +with the glory of the mount on our faces, and lowly love and +vigorous faith in our hearts, and clean hands ready for any service. +He would have us give ourselves to them; and if we love Him, +if we follow Him, if we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit, we +will. + +A Captain used to slip out of bed early in the morning to pray, +and then black his own and his Lieutenant's boots, and God +mightily blessed him. Recently I saw him, now a Commissioner, +with thousands of Officers and Soldiers under his command, at an +outing in the woods by the lake shore, looking after poor and +forgotten Soldiers, and giving them food with his own hand. Like +the Lord, his eyes seemed to be in every place beholding +opportunities to do good, and his feet and hands always followed +his eyes; and this is the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +X. + +HOPE. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Are you ever cast down and depressed in spirit? Listen to Paul: +"Now, the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in +believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the +Holy Ghost" (Romans xv. 13). What cheer is in those words! They +ring like the shout of a triumph. + +1. God Himself is "the God of hope." There is no gloom, no +depression, no wasting sickness of deferred hope in Him. He is a +brimming fountain and ocean of hope eternally, and He is our God. +He is our Hope. + +2. Out of His infinite fullness He is to fill us; not half fill +us, but fill us with joy, "all joy," hallelujah! "and peace." + +3. And this is not by some condition or means that is so high and +difficult that we cannot perform our part, but it is simply "in +believing "--something which the little child or the aged +philosopher, the poor man and the rich man, the ignorant and the +learned can do. And the result will be:-- + +4. Abounding "hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." And what +power is that? If it is physical power, then the power of a +million Niagaras and flowing oceans and rushing worlds is as +nothing compared to it. If it is mental power, then the power of +Plato and Bacon and Milton and Shakespeare and Newton is as the +light of a fire-fly to the sun when compared to it. If it is +spiritual power, then there is nothing with which it can be +compared. But suppose it is all three in one, infinite and +eternal! This is the power, throbbing with love and mercy, to +which we are to bring our little hearts by living faith, and God +will fill us with joy and peace and hope by the incoming of the +Holy Spirit. + +God's people are a hopeful people. They hope in God, with whom +there is no change, no weakness, no decay. In the darkest night +and the fiercest storm they still hope in Him, though it may be +feebly. But He would have His people "abound in hope" so that +they should always be buoyant, triumphant. + +But how can this be in a world such as this? We are surrounded by +awful, mysterious, and merciless forces, that at any moment may +overwhelm us. The fire may burn us, the water may drown us, the +hurricane may sweep us away, friends may desert us, foes may +master us. There is the depression that comes from failing +health, from poverty, from overwork and sleepless nights and +constant care, from thwarted plans, disappointed ambitions, +slighted love, and base ingratitude. Old age comes on with its +grey hairs, failing strength, dimness of sight, dullness of +hearing, tottering step, shortness of breath, and general +weakness and decay. The friends of youth die, and a new, strange, +pushing generation that knows not the old man, comes elbowing him +aside and taking his place. Under some blessed outpouring of the +Spirit the work of God revives, vile sinners are saved, Zion puts +on her beautiful garments, reforms of all kind advance, the +desert blossoms as the rose, the waste place becomes a fruitful +field, and the millennium seems just at hand; and then the +spiritual tide recedes, the forces of evil are emboldened, they +mass themselves and again sweep over the heritage of the Lord, +leaving it waste and desolate, and the battle must be fought over +again. + +How can one be always hopeful, always abounding in hope, in such +a world? Well, hallelujah! it is possible "through the power of +the Holy Ghost," but only through His power; and this power will +not fail so long as we fix our eyes on eternal things and +believe. + +The Holy Spirit, dwelling within, turns our eyes from that which +is temporal to that which is eternal; from the trial itself to +God's purpose in the trial; from the present pain to the precious +promise. + +I am now writing in a little city made rich by vast potteries. If +the dull, heavy clay on the potter's wheel and in the fiery oven +could think and speak, it would doubtless cry out against the +fierce agony; but if it could foresee the purpose of the potter, +and the thing of use and beauty he meant to make it, it would +nestle low under his hand and rejoice in hope. + +We are clay in the hand of the Divine Potter, but we can think +and speak, and in some measure understand His high purpose in us. +It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make us understand. And if +we will not be dull and senseless and unbelieving, He will +illuminate us and fill us with peaceful, joyous hope. + +1. He would reveal to us that our Heavenly Potter has Himself +been on the wheel and in the fiery furnace, learning obedience +and being fashioned into "the Captain of our salvation" by the +things which He suffered. When we are tempted and tried, and +tempest-tossed, He raises our hope by showing us Jesus suffering +and sympathising with us, tempted in all points as we are, and so +able and wise and willing to help us in our struggle and conflict +(Hebrews ii. 9-18). He assures us that Jesus, into whose hands is +committed all power in Heaven and earth, is our elder Brother, +"touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews iv. 15), +and He encourages us to rest in Him and not be afraid; and so we +abound in hope, through His power as we believe. + +2. He reveals to us the eternal purpose of God in our trials and +difficulties. Listen to Paul: "All things work together for good +to them that love God." "We know _this_," says Paul (Romans +viii. 28). But how can this be? Ah! there is where faith must be +exercised. It is "in believing" that we "abound in hope through +the power of the Holy Ghost." + +God's wisdom and ability to make all things work together for our +good are not to be measured by our understanding, but to be +firmly held by our faith. My child is in serious difficulty and +does not know how to help himself; but I say, "Leave it to me." +He may not understand how I am to help him, but he trusts me, and +rejoices in hope. We are God's dear children, and He knows how to +help us, and make all things work together for our good, if we +will only commit ourselves to Him in faith. + + "Thou art as much His care as if beside + Nor man nor angel lived in Heaven or earth; + Thus sunbeams pour alike their glorious tide, + To light up worlds, or wake an insect's mirth." + +Again, afflictions overtake us, and now the Holy Spirit +encourages our hope and makes it to abound by such promises as +these: "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh +for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we +look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which +are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the +things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. iv. 17, 18). But +such a promise as that only mocks us if we do not believe. "In +all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His +presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed +them; and He bare them, and He carried them all the days of old" +(Isaiah lxiii. 9). And He is just the same to-day. To some He +says: "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah +xlviii 10), and nestling down into His will and "believing," they +"abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." + +He turns our eyes back upon Job in his loss and pain; upon Joseph +sold into Egyptian slavery; Daniel in the lions' den; the three +Hebrews in the burning fiery furnace, and Paul in prison and +shipwreck and manifold perils; and, showing us their steadfastness +and their final triumph, He prompts us to hope in God. + +When weakness of body overtakes us, He encourages us with such +assurances as these: "My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is +the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever" (Psalm lxxiii. +26), and the words of Paul: "Though our outward man perish, yet +the inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. iv. 16). + +When old age comes creeping on apace, He has promised to meet the +need that our hope fail not. Listen to David! He prays: "Cast me +not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength +faileth.... Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake +me not; until I have showed Thy strength unto this generation, +and Thy power to every one that is to come" (Psalm lxxi. 9, 18). +And through Isaiah the Lord replies: "Even to your old age I am +He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I +will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you" (Isaiah xlvi. +4). And David cries out, "The righteous shall flourish like the +palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be +planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of +our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they +shall be fat and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright" +(Psalm xcii. 12-15). + +These are sample promises of which the Bible is full, and which +have been adapted by infinite wisdom and love to meet us at every +point of doubt and fear and need, that, in believing them, we may +have a steadfast and glad hope in God. He is pledged to help us. +He says: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for +I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, +I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness" +(Isaiah xli. 10). + +When all God's waves and billows seemed to sweep over David, and +his soul was bowed within him, three times he cried out: "Why art +thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? +Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His +countenance" (Psalm xlii. 5). And Jeremiah, remembering the +wormwood and the gall, and the deep mire of the dungeon into +which they had plunged him, and from which he had scarcely been +delivered, said: "It is good that a man should both hope and +quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord" (Lam. iii. 26). + +When the Holy Spirit is come, He brings to remembrance these +precious promises, and makes them living words; and, if we +believe, the whole heaven of our soul shall be lighted up with +abounding hope. Hallelujah! It is only through ignorance of God's +promises, or through weak and wavering faith, that hope is +dimmed. Oh, that we may heed the still small voice of the +Heavenly Comforter, and steadfastly, joyously believe! + + "My hope is built on nothing less + Than Jesus' blood and righteousness; + When all around my soul gives way, + He then is all my Hope and Stay." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XI. + +THE HOLY SPIRIT'S SUBSTITUTE FOR GOSSIP AND EVIL-SPEAKING. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +The other day I heard a man of God say: "We cannot bridle the +tongues of the people among whom we live: they will talk"; and by +talk he meant gossip and criticism and fault-finding. + + "You never can tell when you send a word-- + Like an arrow shot from a bow + By an archer blind--be it cruel or kind, + Just where it will chance to go. + It may pierce the breast of your dearest friend, + Tipped with its poison or balm: + To a stranger's heart in life's great mart + It may carry its pain or its calm." + +The wise mother, when she finds her little boy playing with a +sharp knife, or the looking-glass, or some dainty dish, does not +snatch it away with a slap on his cheek or harsh words, but +quietly and gently substitutes a safer and more interesting toy, +and so avoids a storm. + +A sensible father who finds his boy reading a book of dangerous +tendency, will kindly point out its character and substitute a +better book that is equally interesting. + +When children want to spend their evenings on the street, +thoughtful and intelligent parents will seek to make their +evenings at home more healthfully attractive. + +When a man seeks to rid his mind of evil and hurtful thoughts, he +will find it wise to follow Paul's exhortation to the Philippians: +"Brethren, whatsoever things are true,... honest,... just,... +pure,... lovely,... of good report;... if there be any praise, +think on these things" (Phil. iv. 8). + +Any man who faithfully, patiently, and persistently accepts this +programme of Paul's will find his evil thoughts vanishing away. + +And this is the Holy Spirit's method: He has a pleasant and safe +substitute for gossip and fault-finding and slander. + +Here it is: "Be filled with the Spirit: speaking to yourselves in +psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody +in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things +unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" +(Eph. v. 18-20). This is certainly a fruit of being filled with +the Spirit. + +Many years ago the Lord gave me a blessed revival in a little +village in which nearly every soul in the place, as well as +farmers from the surrounding country, were converted. One result +was that they now had no time for gossip and doubtful talk about +their neighbours. They were all talking about religion and +rejoicing in the things of the Lord. If they met each other on +the street, or in some shop or store, they praised the Lord, and +encouraged each other to press on in the heavenly way. If they +met a sinner, they tenderly besought him to be reconciled to God, +to give up his sins, "flee from the wrath to come," and start at +once for Heaven. If they met in each other's houses, they +gathered around the organ or the piano and sang hymns and songs, +and did not part till they had united in prayer. + +There was no criticising of their neighbours, no grumbling and +complaining about the weather, no fault-finding with their lot in +life, or their daily surroundings and circumstances. Their +conversation was joyous, cheerful, and helpful to one another. +Nor was it forced and out of place, but rather it was the +natural, spontaneous outflow of loving, humble, glad hearts +filled with the Spirit, in union with Jesus, and in love and +sympathy with their fellow-men. + +And this is, I think, our Heavenly Father's ideal of social and +spiritual intercourse for His children on earth. He would not +have us separate ourselves from each other and shut ourselves up +in convents and monasteries in austere asceticism on the one +hand, nor would He have us light and foolish, or fault-finding +and censorious on the other hand, but sociable, cheerful, and +full of tender, considerate love. + +On the day of Pentecost, when they were all filled with the Holy +Ghost and a multitude were converted, we read that "they, +continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking +bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and +singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the +people" (Acts ii. 46, 47). This is a sample of the brotherly love +and unity which our Heavenly Father would have throughout the +whole earth; but how the breath of gossip and evil-speaking would +have marred this heavenly fellowship and separated these "chief +friends"! + + "Lord! subdue our selfish will; + Each to each our tempers suit + By Thy modulating skill, + Heart to heart, as lute to lute." + +Let no one suppose, however, that the Holy Spirit accomplishes +this heavenly work by some overwhelming baptism which does away +with the need of our co-operation. He does not override us, but +works with us; and we must intelligently and determinedly work +with Him in this matter. + +People often fall into idle and hurtful gossip and evil-speaking, +not so much from ill-will, as from old habit, as a wagon falls +into a rut. Or they drift into it with the current of conversation +about them. Or they are beguiled into it by a desire to say +something, and be pleasant and entertaining. + +But when the Holy Spirit comes, He lifts us out of the old ruts, +and we must follow Him with care lest we fall into them again, +possibly never more to escape. He gives us life and power to stem +the adverse currents about us, but we must exercise ourselves not +to be swept downward by them. He does not destroy the desire to +please, but He subordinates it to the desire to help and bless, +and we must stir ourselves up to do this. + +When Miss Havergal was asked to sing and play before a worldly +company, she sang a sweet song about Jesus, and, without +displeasing anybody, greatly blessed the company. + +At a breakfast party John Fletcher told his experience so sweetly +and naturally that all hearts were stirred, the Holy Ghost fell +upon the company, and they ended with a glorious prayer meeting. + +William Bramwell used at meals to steadily and persistently turn +the conversation into spiritual channels to the blessing of all +who were present, so that they had two meals--one for the body +and one for the soul. + +To do this wisely and helpfully requires thought and prayer and a +fixed purpose, and a tender, loving heart filled with the Holy +Spirit. + +I know a mother who seeks to have a brief season of prayer and a +text of Scripture just before going to dinner to prepare her +heart to guide the conversation along spiritual highways. + +Are you careful and have you victory in this matter, my comrade? +If not, seek it just now in simple, trustful prayer, and the Lord +who loves you will surely answer, and will be your helper from +this time forth. He surely will. Believe just now, and henceforth +"let your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ." + + "I ask Thee, ever blessed Lord, + That I may never speak a word, + Of envy born, or passion stirred. + + "First, true to Thee in heart and mind, + Then always to my neighbour kind, + By Thy good hand to good inclined. + + "Oh, save from words that bear a sting, + That pain to any brother bring: + Inbreathe Thy calm in everything. + + "Let love within my heart prevail, + To rule my words when thoughts assail, + That, hid in Thee, I may not fail. + + "I know, my Lord, Thy power within + Can save from all the power of sin; + In Thee let every word begin. + + "Should I be silent? Keep me still, + Glad waiting on my Master's will: + Thy message through my lips fulfil. + + "Give me Thy words when I should speak, + For words of Thine are never weak, + But break the proud, but raise the meek. + + "Into Thy lips all grace is poured, + Speak Thou through me, Eternal Word, + Of thought, of heart, of lips the Lord." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XII. + +THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +God is love, and the Holy Spirit is ceaselessly striving to make +this love known in our hearts, work out God's purposes of love in +our lives, and transform and transfigure our character by love. +And so we are solemnly warned against resisting the Spirit, and +almost tearfully and always tenderly exhorted to "quench not the +Spirit," and to "grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby," +says the Apostle, "ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." + +There is one great sin against which Jesus warned the Jews, as a +sin never to be forgiven in this world nor in that which is to +come. That was blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. + +That there is such a sin, Jesus teaches in Matthew xii. 31, 32, +Mark iii. 28-30, and Luke xii. 10. And it may be that this is the +sin referred to in Hebrews vi. 4-6; x. 29. + +Since many of God's dear children have fallen into dreadful +distress through fear that they had committed this sin, it may be +helpful for us to study carefully as to what constitutes it. + +Jesus was casting out devils, and Mark tells us that "the scribes +which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by +the prince of the devils casteth He out devils." To this Jesus +replied with gracious kindness and searching logic: "How can +Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, +that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against +itself, it cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself and +be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter +into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he will +first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house." + +In this quiet reply we see that Jesus does not rail against them, +nor flatly deny their base assertion that He does His miracles by +the power of the Devil, but shows how logically false must be +their statement. And then, with grave authority, and, I think, +with solemn tenderness in His voice and in His eyes, He adds, +"Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons +of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: +but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never +forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation"; or, as the +Revised Version puts it, "is guilty of an eternal sin"; and then +Mark adds, "because they said, He hath an unclean spirit" (Mark +iii. 22-30). + +Jesus came into the world to reveal God's truth and love to men, +and to save them, and men are saved by believing in Him. But how +could the men of His day, who saw Him working at the carpenter's +bench, and living the life of an ordinary man of humble toil and +daily temptation and trial, believe His stupendous claim to be +the only-begotten Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and the +final Judge of all men? Any wilful and proud impostor could make +such a claim. But men _could_ not and _ought_ not to believe +such an assertion unless the claim were supported by ungainsayable +evidence. This evidence Jesus began to give, not only in the holy +life which He lived and the pure Gospel He preached, but in the +miracles He wrought, the blind eyes He opened, the sick He healed, +the hungry thousands He fed, the seas He stilled, the dead He +raised to life again, and the devils He cast out of bound and +harassed souls. + +The Scribes and Pharisees witnessed these miracles, and were +compelled to admit these signs and wonders. Nicodemus, one of +their number, said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a +teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou +doest, except God be with him" (John iii. 2). Would they now +admit His claim to be the Son of God, their promised and long- +looked-for Messiah? They were thoughtful men and very religious, +but not spiritual. The Gospel He preached was Spirit and life; it +appealed to their conscience and revealed their sin, and to +acknowledge Him was to admit that they themselves were wrong. It +meant submission to His authority, the surrender of their wills, +and a change of front in their whole inner and outer life. This +meant moral and spiritual revolution in each man's heart and +life, and to this they would not submit. And so to avoid such +plain inconsistency, they must discredit His miracles; and since +they could not deny them, they declared that He wrought them by +the power of the Devil. + +Jesus worked these signs and wonders by the power of the Holy +Spirit, that he might win their confidence, and that they might +reasonably believe and be saved. But they refused to believe, and +in their malignant obstinacy heaped scorn upon Him, accusing Him +of being in league with the Devil; and how could they be saved? +This was the sin against the Holy Spirit against which Jesus +warned them. It was not so much one act of sin, as a deep-seated, +stubborn rebellion against God that led them to choose darkness +rather than light, and so to blaspheme against the Spirit of +truth and light. It was sin full and ripe and ready for the +harvest. + +Some one has said that "this sin cannot be forgiven, not because +God is unwilling to forgive, but because one who thus sins +against the Holy Spirit has put himself where no power can soften +his heart or change his nature. A man may misuse his eyes and yet +see; but whosoever puts them out can never see again. One may +misdirect his compass, and turn it aside from the North Pole by a +magnet or piece of iron, and it may recover and point right +again; but whosoever destroys the compass itself has lost his +guide at sea." + +Many of God's dear children, honest souls, have been persuaded +that they have committed this awful sin. Indeed, I once thought +that I myself had done so, and for twenty-eight days I felt that, +like Jonah, I was "in the belly of hell." But God, in love and +tender mercy, drew me out of the horrible pit of doubt and fear, +and showed me that this is a sin committed only by those who, in +spite of all evidence, harden their hearts in unbelief, and to +shield themselves in their sins deny and blaspheme the Lord. + +Dr. Daniel Steele tells of a Jew who was asked, "Is it that you +_cannot_, or that you _will not_ believe?" The Jew passionately +replied, "We _will_ not, we _will_ not believe." + +This was wilful refusal and rejection of light, and in that +direction lies hardness of heart beyond recovery, fullness of +sin, and final impenitence, which are unpardonable. + +Doubtless many through resistance to the Holy Spirit come to this +awful state of heart; but those troubled, anxious souls who think +they have committed this sin are not usually among the number. + +An Army Officer in Canada was in the midst of a glorious revival, +when one night a gentleman arose and with deep emotion urged the +young people present to yield themselves to God, accept Jesus as +their Saviour, and receive the Holy Spirit. He told them that he +had once been a Christian, but that he had not walked in the +light, and, consequently, had sinned against the Holy Spirit, and +could never more be pardoned. Then, with all earnest tenderness, +he exhorted them to be warned by his sad state, and not to harden +their hearts against the gracious influences, and entreated them +to yield to the Saviour. Suddenly the scales of doubt dropped +from his eyes, and he saw that he had not in his inmost heart +rejected Jesus; that he had not committed the unpardonable sin; +that + + "The love of God is broader + Than the measure of man's mind: + And the heart of the Eternal + Is most wonderfully kind." + +And in an instant his heart was filled with light and love and +peace, and sweet assurance that Christ Jesus was his Saviour, +even his. + +In one meeting, I have known three people who thought they had +committed this sin, and were bowed with grief and fear, to come +to the penitent-form and find deliverance. + +The poet Cowper was plunged into unutterable gloom by the +conviction that he had committed this awful sin; but God tenderly +brought him into the light and sweet comforts of the Holy Spirit +again, and doubtless it was in the sense of such lovingkindness +that he wrote: + + "There is a fountain filled with blood, + Drawn from Emanuel's veins; + And sinners plunged beneath that flood + Lose all their guilty stains." + +John Bunyan was also afflicted with horrible fears that he had +committed the unpardonable sin, and in his little book entitled, +"Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners" (a book which I would +earnestly recommend to all soul-winners), he tells how he was +delivered from his doubts and fears and was filled once more with +the joy of the Lord. There are portions of his "Pilgrim's +Progress" which are to be interpreted in the light of this +grievous experience. + +Those who think they have committed this sin may generally be +assured that they have not. + +1. Their hearts are usually very tender, while this sin must +harden the heart past all feeling. + +2. They are full of sorrow and shame for having neglected God's +grace and trifled with the Saviour's dying words, but such sorrow +could not exist in a heart so fully given over to sin that pardon +was impossible. + +3. God says, "Whosoever will may come"; and if they find it in +their hearts to come, they will not be cast out, but freely +pardoned and received with loving kindness through the merits of +Jesus' blood. God's promise will not fail, His faithfulness is +established in the heavens. Bless His holy name! Those who have +committed this sin are full of evil, and do not care to come, and +will not, and, therefore, are never pardoned. Their sin is +eternal. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XIII. + +OFFENCES AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +One day, in a fit of boyish temper, I spoke hot words of anger, +somewhat unjustly, against another person, and this deeply +grieved my mother. She said but little, and though her sweet face +has mouldered many years beneath the Southern daisies, her look +of grief I can still see across the years of a third of a +century. And that is the one sad memory of my childhood. A +stranger might have been amused or incensed at my words, but +mother was grieved--grieved to her heart by my lack of generous, +self-forgetful, thoughtful love. + +We can anger a stranger or an enemy, but it is only a friend we +grieve. The Holy Spirit is such a Friend, more tender and +faithful than a mother; and shall we carelessly offend Him, and +estrange ourselves from Him in spite of His love? + +There is a sense in which every sin is against the Holy Ghost. Of +course, not every such sin is unpardonable, but the tendency of +all sin is in that direction, and we are only safe as we avoid +the very beginnings of sin. Only as we "walk in the Spirit" are +we "free from the law of sin and death" (Romans viii. 2). +Therefore, it is infinitely important that we beware of offences +against the Spirit, "lest any of you be hardened through the +deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews iii. 13). + +Grieving the Holy Spirit is a very common and a very sad offence +of professing Christians, and it is to this that must be +attributed much of the weakness and ignorance and joylessness of +so many followers of Christ. + +And He is grieved, as was my mother, by the unloving speech and +spirit of God's children. + +In his letters to the Ephesians, Paul says, "Let no corrupt +communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good +to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the +hearers." And then he adds: "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of +God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all +bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, +be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to +another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for +Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of +God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath +loved us, and hath given Himself for us" (Eph. iv. 29-v. 2). + +What does Paul teach us here? That it is not by some huge +wickedness, some Judas-like betrayal, some tempting and lying to +the Holy Ghost, as did Ananias and Sapphira (Acts v. 1-9), that +we grieve Him, but by that which most people count little and +unimportant; by talk that corrupts instead of blessing and +building up those that hear, by gossip, by bitterness, and +uncharitable criticisms and fault-findings. This was the sin of +the elder son when the prodigal returned, and it was by this he +pierced with grief the kind old father's heart. + +By getting in a rage, by loud, angry talking and evil-speaking +and petty malice, by unkindness and hard-heartedness and an +unforgiving spirit, we grieve Him. In a word, by not walking +through the world as in our Father's house, and among our +neighbours and friends as among His dear children; by not loving +tenderly and making kindly sacrifices for one another, He is +grieved. And this is not a matter of little importance. It may +have sadly momentous consequences. + +It is a bitter, cruel, and often an irreparable thing to trifle +with a valuable earthly friendship. How much more when the +friendship is heavenly? when the Friend is our Lord and Saviour, +our Creator and Redeemer, our Governor and Judge, our Teacher, +Guide, and God? When we trifle with a friend's wishes--especially +when such wishes are all in perfect harmony with and for our +highest possible good--we may not estrange the friend from us, +but we estrange ourselves from our friend. Our hearts grow cold +toward him, though his heart may be breaking with longing toward +us. + +The more Saul ill-treated David, the more he hated David. + +Such estrangement may lead, little by little, to yet greater sin, +to strange hardness of heart, to doubts and unbelief, and +backslidings and denial of the Lord. + +The cure for all this is a clean heart full of sweet and gentle, +self-forgetful, generous love. Then we shall be "followers of God +as dear children," then we shall "walk in love as Christ loved +us, and gave Himself for us." + +But there is another offence, that of quenching the Spirit, which +accounts for the comparative darkness and deadness of many of +God's children. + +In I Thess. v. 16-19 the Apostle says: "Rejoice evermore. Pray +without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will +of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit." + +When will the Lord's dear children learn that the religion of +Jesus is a lowly thing, and that it is the little foxes that +spoil the vines? Does not the Apostle here teach that it is not +by some desperate, dastardly deed that we quench the Spirit, but +simply by neglecting to rejoice and pray, and give thanks at all +times and for all things? + +It is not necessary to blot the sun out of the heavens to keep +the sunlight out of your house--just close the blinds and draw +the curtains; nor do you pour barrels of water on the flames to +quench the fire--just shut off the draught; nor do you dynamite +the city reservoir and destroy all the mains and pipes to cut off +your supply of sparkling water, but just refrain from turning on +the main. + +So you do not need to do some great evil, some deadly sin, to +quench the Spirit. Just cease to rejoice, through fear of man and +of being peculiar; be prim and proper as a white and polished +gravestone; let gushing joy be curbed; neglect to pray when you +feel a gentle pull in your heart to get alone with the Lord; omit +giving hearty thanks for all God's tender mercies, faithful +discipline and loving chastenings, and soon you will find the +Spirit quenched. He will no longer spring up joyously like a well +of living water within you. + +But give the Spirit a vent, an opening, a chance, and He will +rise within you and flood your soul with light and love and joy. + +Some years ago a sanctified woman of clear experience went alone +to keep her daily hour with God; but, to her surprise, it seemed +that she could not find Him, either in prayer or in His word. She +searched her heart for evidence of sin, but the Spirit showed her +nothing contrary to God in her mind, heart, or will. She searched +her memory for any breach of covenant, any broken vows, any +neglect, any omission, but could find none. + +Then she asked the Lord to show her if there were any duty +unfulfilled, any command unnoticed, which she might perform, and +quick as thought came the often-read words, "Rejoice evermore." +"Have you done that this morning?" + +She had not. It had been a busy morning, and a well-spent one, +but so far there had been no definite rejoicing in her heart, +though the manifold riches and ground for joy of all Christians +were hers. + +At once she began to count her blessings and thank the Lord for +each one, and rejoice in Him for all the way He had led her, and +the gifts He had bestowed, and in a very few minutes the Lord +stood revealed to her spiritual consciousness. + +She had not committed sin, nor resisted the Spirit, but a failure +to rejoice in Him who had daily loaded her with benefits (Psalm +lxviii. 19) had in a measure quenched the Spirit. She had not +turned the main, and so her soul was not flooded with living +waters. She had not remembered the command: "Thou shalt rejoice +before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hand +unto." But that morning she learned a lifelong lesson, and she +has ever since safeguarded her soul by obeying the many commands +to "Rejoice in the Lord." + +Grieving and quenching the Spirit will not only leave barren and +desolate an individual soul, but it will do so for a Corps, a +church, a community, a whole nation or continent. We see this +illustrated on a large scale by the long and weary Dark Ages, +when the light of the Gospel was almost extinguished, and only +here and there was the darkness broken by the torch of truth held +aloft by some humble, suffering soul that had wept and prayed, +and through painful struggles had found the light. + +We see it also in those Corps, churches, communities, and +countries where revivals are unknown, or are a thing of the past, +where souls are not born into the Kingdom, and where there is no +joyous shout of victory among the people of God. + +Grieving and quenching the Spirit may be done unintentionally by +lack of thought and prayer and hearty devotion to the Lord Jesus; +but they prepare the way and lead to intentional and positive +resistance to the Spirit. + +To resist the Spirit is to fight against Him. + +The sinner who, listening to the Gospel invitation, and convicted +of sin, refuses to submit to God in true repentance and faith in +Jesus, is resisting the Holy Spirit. We have bold and striking +historical illustrations of the danger of resisting the Holy +Spirit in the disasters which befell Pharaoh, and the terrible +calamities which came upon Jerusalem, and have for twenty +centuries followed the Jews. + +The ten plagues that came upon Pharaoh and his people were ten +opportunities and open doors into God's favour and fellowship, +which they themselves shut by their stubborn resistance, only to +be overtaken by dreadful catastrophe. + +To the Jews, Stephen said: "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost" +(Acts vii. 51); and the siege and fall of Jerusalem, and the +butchery and banishment and enslavement of its inhabitants, and +all the woes that came upon the Jews, followed their rejection of +Jesus and the hardness of heart and spiritual blindness which +swiftly overtook them when they resisted all the loving efforts +and entreaties of His disciples baptised with the Holy Spirit. + +And what on a large scale befalls nations and people, on a small +scale also befalls individuals. Those that receive and obey the +Lord are enlightened and blessed and saved; those that resist and +reject Him are sadly left to themselves and surely swallowed up +in destruction. + +Likewise the professing Christian who hears of heart-holiness and +cleansing from all sin as a blessing he may now have by faith, +and, convicted of his need of the blessing and of God's desire +and willingness to bestow it upon him now, refuses to seek it in +whole-hearted affectionate consecration and faith, is resisting +the Holy Spirit. And such resistance imperils the soul beyond all +possible computation. + +We see an example of this in the Israelites who were brought out +of Egypt with signs and wonders, and led through the Red Sea and +the wilderness to the borders of Canaan, but, forgetting, +refused to go over into the land. In this they resisted the Holy +Spirit in His leadings as surely as did Pharaoh, and with quite +as disastrous results to themselves, perishing in their evil way. + +For their sin was as much greater than his as their light +exceeded his. + +Hundreds of years later, Isaiah, writing of this time, says: "In +all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His +presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed +them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But +they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit; therefore He was turned +to be their enemy, and He fought against them" (Isaiah lxiii. 9, +10). + +We see from this that Christians must beware and watch and pray +and walk softly with the Lord in glad obedience and childlike +faith, if they would escape the darkness and dryness that result +from grieving and quenching the Spirit, and the dangers that +surely come from resisting Him. + + "Arm me with jealous care, + As in Thy sight to live; + And, Oh, Thy servant, Lord, prepare, + A strict account to give. + + "Help me to watch and pray, + And on Thyself rely, + Assured if I my trust betray, + I shall for ever die." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XIV. + +THE HOLY SPIRIT AND SOUND DOCTRINE. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Is Jesus Christ divine? Is the Bible an inspired Book? Is man a +fallen creature who can be saved only through the suffering and +sacrifice of the Creator? Will there be a resurrection of the +dead, and a day in which God will judge all the world by the Man +Christ Jesus? Is Satan a personal being, and is there a Hell in +which the wicked will be for ever punished? + +These are great doctrines which have been held and taught by His +followers since the days of Jesus and His Apostles, and yet they +are ever being attacked and denied. + +Are they true? Or are they only fancies and falsehoods, or +figures of speech and distortions of truth? How can we find truth +and know it? + +Jesus said, "When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide +you into all truth" (John xvi. 13). + +What truth? Not the truth of the multiplication table, or of +physical science, or art, or secular history, but spiritual +truth--the truth about God and His will and character, and our +relations to Him in Christ--that truth which is necessary to +salvation and holiness--into all this truth the Holy Spirit will +guide us. "He shall teach you all things," said Jesus (John xiv. +26). + +How, then, shall we escape error and be "sound in doctrine"? Only +by the help of the Holy Spirit. + +How do we know Jesus Christ is divine? Because the Bible tells us +so? Infinitely precious and important is this revelation in the +Bible; but not by this do we know it. Because the Church teaches +it in her creed, and we have heard it from the catechism? Nothing +taught in any creed or catechism is of more vital importance; but +neither by this do we know it. + +How then? Listen to Paul: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, +but by the Holy Ghost" (I Cor. xii. 3). "No man," says Paul. Then +learning it from the Bible or catechism is not to know it except +as the parrot might know it; but every man is to be taught this +by the Holy Spirit, if he is to really know it. + +Then it is not a revelation made once for all, and only to the +men who walked and talked with Jesus, but it is a spiritual +revelation made anew to each believing heart that in penitence +seeks Him and so meets the conditions of such a revelation. + +Then the poor, degraded, ignorant outcast at The Army penitent- +form in the slums of London or Chicago, who never heard of a +creed, and the ebony African and dusky Indian, who never saw the +inside of a Bible, may have Christ revealed in him, and know by +the revelation of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is Lord. + +"It pleased God... to reveal His Son in me," wrote Paul (Gal. i. +15, 16); and again, "Christ liveth in me" (Gal. ii. 20); and +again, "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again +until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. iv. 19); as though Christ is +to be spiritually formed in the heart of each believer by the +operation of the Holy Spirit, as He was physically formed in the +womb of Mary by the same Spirit (Luke i. 35); and again, "The +mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but +now is made manifest to His saints,... which is Christ in you, +the hope of glory" (Col. i. 26, 27); "That Christ may dwell in +your hearts by faith" (Eph. iii. 17); "Examine yourselves, +whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not +your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be +reprobates" (2 Cor. xiii. 5)? + +"At that day," said Jesus, when making His great promise of the +Comforter to His disciples, "At that day ye shall know that I am +in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you" (John xiv. 20); and +again, in His great prayer, He said: "I have declared unto them +Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast +loved Me may be in them, and I in them." + +It is this ever-recurring revelation to penitent, believing +hearts, by the agency of the ever-present Holy Spirit, that makes +faith in Jesus Christ living and invincible. "I know He is Lord, +for He saves my soul from sin, and He saves me now," is an +argument that rationalism and unbelief cannot answer nor +overthrow, and so long as there are men in the world who can say +this, faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ is secure; and this +experience and witness come by the Holy Ghost. + + "I worship Thee, O Holy Ghost, + I love to worship Thee; + My risen Lord for aye were lost + But for Thy company." + +And so it is by the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit that +all saving truth becomes vital to us. + +It is He that makes the Bible a living Book; it is He that +convinces the world of judgment (John xvi. 8-11); it is He that +makes men certain that there is a Heaven of surpassing and +enduring glory and joy, and a Hell of endless sorrow and woe for +those who sin away their day of grace and die in impenitence. + +Who have been the mightiest and most faithful preachers of the +gloom and terror and pain of a perpetual Hell? those who have +been the mightiest and most effective preachers of God's +compassionate love. + +In all periods of great revival, when men seemed to live on the +borderland, and in the vision of eternity, Hell has been +preached. The leaders in these revivals have been men of prayer +and faith and consuming love, but they have been men who knew +"the terrors of the Lord," and, therefore, they preached the +judgments of God, and they proved that the law with its penalties +is a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ (Gal. iii. 24). Fox, the +Quaker; Bunyan, the Baptist; Baxter, the Puritan; Wesley and +Fletcher, and Whitefield and Caughey, the Methodists; Finney, the +Presbyterian; Edwards and Moody, the Congregationalists; and +General Booth, the Salvationist, have preached it, not savagely, +but tenderly and faithfully, as a mother might warn her child +against some great danger that would surely follow careless and +selfish wrong-doing. + +What men have loved and laboured and sacrificed as these men? +Their hearts have been a flaming furnace of love and devotion to +God, and an over-flowing fountain of love and compassion for men; +but just in proportion as they have discovered God's love and +pity for the sinner, so have they discovered His wrath against +sin and all obstinate wrong-doing; and as they have caught +glimpses of Heaven and declared its joys and everlasting glories +to men, so they have seen Hell, with its endless punishment, and +with trembling voice and overflowing eyes have they warned men to +"flee from the wrath to come." + +Were these men, throbbing with spiritual life and consumed with +devotion to the Kingdom of God and the everlasting well-being of +their fellowmen, led to this belief by the Spirit of Truth, or +were they misled? Is it the prophet, weeping and praying and +preaching and fighting for God and men, to whom the Spirit has +always first spoken and revealed the things of God? Or is it the +philosopher, or dry-as-dust theologian, or the popular preacher +of smooth things, sitting in his study and among his books, +spinning out of his own mind his conceits concerning God's plan +and purpose in the universe? + +Does Seneca or the Psalmist, Plato or Paul, Rousseau or Wesley, +the idolised, high-salaried, soft-raimented preacher of a wide +gate and broad way to life and Heaven, or the veteran soul-winner, +General Booth, more clearly make known the mind of God in +matters that are spiritual? + +"The things of the Spirit... are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. +ii. 14), says Paul. It is not by searching and philosophising +that these things are found out, but by revelation. "Flesh and +blood hath not revealed it unto thee," said Jesus to Peter, "but +My Father which is in Heaven" (Matthew xvi. 17). The great +teacher of truth is the Spirit of Truth, and the only safe +expounders and guardians of sound doctrine are men filled with +the Holy Ghost. + +Study and research have their place, and an important place; but +in spiritual things they will be no avail unless prosecuted by +spiritual men. As well might men blind from birth attempt to +study the starry heavens, and men born deaf undertake to expound +and criticise the harmonies of Bach and Beethoven. Men must see +and hear to speak and write intelligently on such subjects. And +so men must be spiritually enlightened to understand spiritual +truth. + +The greatest danger to any religious organisation is that a body +of men should arise in its ranks, and hold its positions of +trust, who have learned its great fundamental doctrines by rote +out of the catechism, but have no experimental knowledge of their +truth inwrought by the mighty anointing of the Holy Ghost, and +who are destitute of "an unction from the Holy One," by which, +says John, "ye know all things" (1 John ii. 20, 27). + +Why do men deny the divinity of Jesus Christ? Because they have +never placed themselves in that relation to the Spirit, and met +those unchanging conditions that would enable Him to reveal Jesus +to them as Saviour and Lord. + +Why do men dispute the inspiration of the Scriptures? Because the +Holy Ghost, who inspired "holy men of God" to write the Book (2 +Peter i. 21), hides its spiritual sense from unspiritual and +unholy men. + +Why do men doubt a Day of Judgment, and a state of everlasting +doom? Because they have never been bowed and broken and crushed +beneath the weight of their sin, and by a sense of guilt and +separation from a holy God that can only be removed by faith in +His dying Son. + +A sportsman lost his way in a pitiless storm on a black and +starless night. Suddenly his horse drew back and refused to take +another step. He urged it forward, but it only threw itself back +upon its haunches. Just then a vivid flash of lightning revealed +a great precipice upon the brink of which he stood. It was but an +instant, and then the pitchy blackness hid it again from view. +But he turned his horse and anxiously rode away from the terrible +danger. + +A distinguished professor of religion said to me some time ago, +"I dislike, I abhor, the doctrine of Hell"; and then after a +while added, "But three times in my life I have seen that there +was eternal separation from God and an everlasting Hell for me, +if I walked not in the way God was calling me to go." + +Into the blackness of the sinner's night the Holy Spirit, who is +patiently and compassionately seeking the salvation of all men, +flashes a light that gives him a glimpse of eternal things which, +heeded, would lead to the sweet peace and security of eternal +day. For when the Holy Spirit is heeded and honoured, the night +passes, the shadows flee away, the day dawns, "the Sun of +Righteousness arises with healing in His wings," and, saved and +sanctified, men walk in His light in safety and joy. Doctrines +which before were repellent to the carnal mind, and but +foolishness, or a stumbling-block to the heart of unbelief, now +become precious and satisfying to the soul; and truths which +before were hid in impenetrable darkness, or seen only as through +dense gloom and fog, are now seen clearly as in the light of +broad day. + + "Hold thou the faith that Christ is Lord, + God over all, who died and rose; + And everlasting life bestows + On all who hear the living word. + For thee His life-blood He out-poured, + His Spirit sets thy spirit free; + Hold thou the faith--He dwells in thee, + And thou in Him, and Christ is Lord!" + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XV. + +PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +An important work of the Holy Spirit is to teach us how to pray, +instruct us what to pray for, and inspire us to pray earnestly, +without ceasing, and in faith, for the things we desire and the +things that are dear to the heart of the Lord. + +In a familiar verse, the poet Montgomery says: + + "Prayer is the burden of a sigh, + The falling of a tear, + The upward glancing of the eye, + When none but God is near." + +And no doubt he is right. Prayer is exceedingly simple. The +faintest cry for help, a whisper for mercy, is prayer. But when +the Holy Spirit comes and fills the soul with His blessed +presence, prayer becomes more than a cry; it ceases to be a +feeble request, and often becomes a strife (Romans xv. 30; Col. +iv. 12) for greater things, a conflict, an invincible argument, a +wrestling with God, and through it men enter into the Divine +councils and rise into a blessed and responsible fellowship in +some important sense with the Father and the Son in the moral +government of the world. + +It was in this spirit and fellowship that Abraham prayed for +Sodom (Genesis xviii. 23-32); that Moses interceded for Israel, +and stood between them and God's hot displeasure (Exodus xxxii. +7-14); and that Elijah prevailed to shut up the heavens for three +years and six months, and then again prevailed in his prayer for +rain. + +God would have us come to Him not only as a foolish and ignorant +child comes, but as an ambassador to his home government; as a +full-grown son who has become of age and entered into partnership +with his father; as a bride who is one in all interests and affections +with the bridegroom. + +He would have us "come boldly to the throne of grace" with a +well-reasoned and Scriptural understanding of what we desire, and +with a purpose to "ask," "seek," and "knock" till we get the +thing we wish, being assured that it is according to His will; +and this boldness is not inconsistent with the profoundest +humility and a sense of utter dependence; indeed, it is always +accompanied by self-distrust and humble reliance upon the merits +of Jesus, else it is but presumption and unsanctified conceit. +This union of assurance and humility, of boldness and dependence, +can be secured only by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and only +so can one be prepared and fitted for such prayer. + +Three great obstacles hinder mighty prayer: + +1. selfishness; 2, unbelief; 3, the darkness of ignorance and +foolishness. The baptism with the Spirit sweeps away these +obstacles and brings in the three great essentials to prayer--1, +faith; 2, love, Divine love; 3, the light of heavenly knowledge +and wisdom. + +1. Selfishness must be cast out by the incoming of love. The +ambassador must not be seeking personal ends, but the interests +of his government and the people he represents; the son must not +be seeking private gain, but the common prosperity of the +partnership in which he will fully and lawfully share; the bride +must not forget him to whom she belongs, and seek separate ends, +but in all ways identify herself with her husband and his +interests. + +So the child of God must come in prayer, unselfishly. + +It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our co-operation and glad +consent, to search and destroy selfishness out of our hearts, and +fill them with pure love to God and man. And when this is done we +shall not then be asking for things amiss to consume them upon +our lusts, to gratify our appetites, or pride, or ambition, or +ease, or vain-glory. We shall seek only the glory of our Lord and +the common good of our fellow-men, in which, as co-workers and +partners, we shall have a common share. If we ask for success, it +is not that we may be exalted, but that God may be glorified; +that Jesus may secure the purchase of His blood; that men may be +saved, and the Kingdom of Heaven be established upon earth. + +If we ask for daily bread, it is not that we may be full, but +that we may be fitted for daily duty. If we ask for health, it is +not alone that we may be free from pain and filled with physical +comfort, but that we may be spent "in publishing the sinner's +Friend," in fulfilling the work for which God has placed us here. + +2. Unbelief must be destroyed. Doubt paralyzes prayer. Unbelief +quenches the spirit of intercession. Only as the eye of faith +sees our Father God upon the Throne guaranteeing to us rights and +privileges by the blood of His Son, and inviting us to come +without fear, and make our wants known, does prayer rise from the +commonplace to the sublime; does it cease to be a feeble, timid +cry, and become a mighty spiritual force, moving God Himself in +the interests which it seeks. + +Men, wise with the wisdom of this world, but poor and naked and +blind and foolish in matters of faith, ask: "Will God change His +plans at the request of man?" And we answer, "Yes," since many of +God's plans are made contingent upon the prayers of His people, +and He has ordered that prayer offered in faith, according to His +will, revealed in His word, shall be one of the controlling +factors in His government of men. + +Is it God's will that the tides of the Atlantic and Pacific +should sweep across the Isthmus of Panama? That men should run +under the Alps? That thoughts and words should be winged across +the ocean without any visible or tangible medium? Yes; it is His +will, if men will it, and work to these ends in harmony with His +great physical laws. So in the spiritual world there are wonders +wrought by prayer, and God wills the will of His people when they +come to Him in faith and love. + +What else is meant by such promises and assurances as these: +"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye +pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark +xi. 24); "The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in +its working. Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he +prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the +earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and +the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit" +(James v. 16-18. American Revision). + +The Holy Spirit dwelling within the heart helps us to understand +the things we may pray for, and the heart that is full of love +and loyalty to God only wants what is lawful. This is mystery to +people who are under the dominion of selfishness and the darkness +of unbelief, but it is a soul-thrilling fact to those who are +filled with the Holy Ghost. + +"What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?" asked Jesus of the +blind man (Luke xviii. 41). + +He had respect to the will of the blind man, and granted his +request, seeing he had faith. And He still has respect to the +vigorous, sanctified will of His people--the will that has been +subdued by consecration and faith into loving union with His +will. + +The Lord answered Abraham on behalf of Sodom till he ceased to +ask. + +"The Lord has had His way so long with Hudson Taylor," said a +friend, "that now, Hudson Taylor can have his way with the Lord." + +Adoniram Judson lay sick with a fatal illness in far-away Burmah. +His wife read to him an account of the conversion of a number of +Jews in Constantinople through some of his writings. For a while +the sick man was silent, and then he spoke with awe, telling his +wife that for years he had prayed that he might be used in some +way to bless the Jews, yet never having seen any evidence that +his prayers were answered; but now, after many years and from far +away, the evidence of answer had come. And then, after further +silence, he spoke with deep emotion, saying that he had never +prayed a prayer for the glory of God and the good of men but +that, sooner or later, even though for the time being he had +forgotten, he found that God had not forgotten, but had +remembered and patiently worked to answer his prayer. + +Oh, the faithfulness of God! He means it when He makes promises +and exhorts and urges and commands us to pray. It is not His +purpose to mock us, but to answer and "to do exceeding abundantly +above all that we ask or think." Bless His holy Name! + +3. Knowledge and wisdom must take the place of foolish ignorance. +Paul says, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought," and +then adds, "But the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us +with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans viii. 26). If my +little child asks for a glittering razor, I refuse its request; +but when my full-grown son asks for one I grant it. So God cannot +wisely answer some prayers, for they are foolish or untimely. +Hence, we need not love and faith only, but wisdom and knowledge, +that we may ask according to the will of God. + +It is this that Paul has in mind when he says that he will not +only pray with the Spirit, but "I will pray with the understanding +also" (I Cor. xiv. 15). Men should think before they pray, and +study that they may pray wisely. + +Now, when the Holy Spirit comes there pours into the soul not +only a tide of love and simple faith, but a flood of light as +well, and prayer becomes not only earnest, but intelligent also. +And this intelligence increases, as, under the leadership of the +Holy Spirit, the word of God is studied, and its heavenly truths +and principles are grasped and assimilated. + +It is thus men come to know God and become His friends, whose +prayers He will assist and will not deny. + +Such men talk with God as friend with friend, and the Holy Spirit +helps their infirmities; encourages them to urge their prayer in +faith; teaches them to reason with God; enables them to come +boldly in the name of Jesus, when oppressed with a sense of their +own insignificance and unworthiness; and, when words fail them +and they scarcely know how to voice their desires, He intercedes +within them with unutterable groanings, according to the will of +God (Romans viii. 26, 27; 1 Cor. ii. 11). + +A young man felt called to mission work in China, but his mother +offered strong opposition to his going. An agent of the mission, +knowing the need of the work, and vexed with the mother, one day +laid the case before Hudson Taylor. + +"Mr. Taylor," said he, "listened patiently and lovingly to all I +had to say, and then gently suggested our praying about it. Such +a prayer I have never heard before! It seemed to me more like a +conversation with a trusted friend whose advice he was seeking. +He talked the matter over with the Friend from every point of +view--from the side of the young man, from the side of China's +needs, from the side of the mother, and her natural feelings, and +also from my side. It was a revelation to me. I saw that prayer +did not mean merely asking for things, much less asking for +things to be carried out by God according to our ideas; but that +it means _communion_, fellowship, partnership, with our +Heavenly Father. And when our will is really blended with His, +what liberty we may have in asking for what we want!" + +Hallelujah! + + "My soul, ask what thou wilt, + Thou canst not be too bold; + Since His own blood for thee He spilt, + What else can He withhold?" + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XVI. + +CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANOINTED PREACHER. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Since God saves men by "the foolishness of preaching," the +preacher has an infinitely important work, and he must be fitted +for it. But what can fit a man for such sacred work? Not +education alone, not knowledge of books, not gifts of speech, not +winsome manners, nor a magnetic voice, nor a commanding presence, +but only God. The preacher must be more than a man--he must be a +man plus the Holy Ghost. + +Paul was such a man. He was full of the Holy Spirit, and in +studying his life and ministry we get a life-sized portrait of an +anointed preacher living, fighting, preaching, praying, +suffering, triumphing, and dying in the power and light and glory +of the indwelling Spirit. + +In the second chapter of the First of Thessalonians he gives us a +picture of his character and ministry which were formed and +inspired by the Holy Spirit, a sample of His workmanship, and an +example for all Gospel preachers. + +At Philippi he had been terribly beaten with stripes on his bare +back, and roughly thrust into the inner dungeon, and his feet +were made fast in the stocks; but that did not break nor quench +his spirit. Love burned in his heart, and his joy in the Lord +brimmed full and bubbled over, and at midnight, in the damp, +dark, loathsome dungeon, he and Silas, his comrade in service and +suffering, "prayed and sang praises unto God." God answered with +an earthquake, and the jailer and his household got gloriously +converted. Paul was set free and went at once to Thessalonica, +where, regardless of the shameful way he had been treated at +Philippi, he preached the Gospel boldly, and a blessed revival +followed with many converts; but persecution arose, and Paul had +again to flee. His heart, however, was continually turning back +to these converts, and at last he sat down and wrote them this +letter. From this we learn that-- + +1. He was a _joyful_ preacher. He was no pessimist, croaking +out doleful prophecies and lamentations and bitter criticisms. He +was full of the joy of the Lord. It was not the joy that comes +from good health, a pleasant home, plenty of money, wholesome +food, numerous and smiling friends, and sunny, favouring skies; +but a deep, springing fountain of solemn, gladdening joy that +abounded and overflowed in pain and weariness, in filthy, noisome +surroundings, in loneliness and poverty, and danger and bitter +persecutions. No earth-born trial could quench it, for it was +Heaven-born; it was "the joy of the Lord" poured into his heart +with the Holy Spirit. + +2. He was a _bold_ preacher. Worldly prudence would have +constrained him to go softly at Thessalonica, after his +experience at Philippi, lest he arouse opposition and meet again +with personal violence; but, instead, he says: "We were bold in +our God to speak unto you the Gospel of God with much contention." +Personal considerations were all forgotten, or cast to the winds, +in his impetuous desire to declare the Gospel and save their +souls. He lived in the will of God, and conquered his fears. "The +wicked" are fearful, and "flee when no man pursueth; but the +righteous are as bold as a lion." + +This boldness is a fruit of righteousness, and is always found in +those who are full of the Holy Ghost. They forget themselves, and +so lose all fear. This was the secret of the martyrs when burned +at the stake or thrown to the wild beasts. + +Fear is a fruit of selfishness. Boldness thrives when selfishness +is destroyed. God esteems it, commands His people to be +courageous, and makes spiritual leaders only of those who possess +courage (Joshua i. 9). + +Moses feared not the wrath of the king, refused to be called the +son of Pharaoh's daughter, and boldly espoused the cause of his +despised and enslaved people. + +Joshua was full of courage. Gideon fearlessly attacked one +hundred and twenty thousand Midianites, with but three hundred +unarmed men. + +Jonathan and his armour-bearer charged the Philistine garrison +and routed hundreds singlehanded. + +David faced the lion and the bear, and inspired all Israel by +battling with and killing Goliath. + +The prophets were men of the highest courage, who fearlessly +rebuked kings, and at the risk of life, and often at the cost of +life, denounced popular sins, and called the people back to +righteousness and the faithful service of God. These men feared +God, and so lost the fear of man. They believed God, and so +obeyed Him, and found His favour, and were entrusted with His +high missions and everlasting employments. + +"Fear thou not, for I am with thee," saith the Lord; and this +Paul believed, and so says, "We were bold in our God." God was +his high tower, his strength and unfailing defence, and so he was +not afraid. + +His boldness toward man was a fruit of his boldness toward God, +and that, in turn, was a fruit of his faith in Jesus as his High +Priest, who had been touched with the feeling of his infirmities, +and through whom he could "come boldly to the Throne of Grace, +and obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need." + +It is the timidity and delicacy with which men attempt God's work +that often accounts for their failure. Let them speak out boldly +like men, as ambassadors of Heaven, who are not afraid to +represent their King, and they will command attention and +respect, and reach the hearts and consciences of men. + +I have read that quaint old Bishop Latimer, who was afterwards +burned at the stake, "having preached a sermon before King Henry +VIII, which greatly displeased the monarch, was ordered to preach +again on the next Sunday, and make apology for the offence given. +The day came, and with it a crowded assembly anxious to hear the +bishop's apology. Reading his text, he commenced thus: 'Hugh +Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak? +To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent +majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest. Therefore, +take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But, +then, consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou +comest? Upon whose message thou art sent? Even by the great and +mighty God, who is all-present, and who beholdeth all thy ways, +and who is able to cast thy soul into Hell! Therefore, take care +that thou deliver thy message faithfully.'" + +He then repeated the sermon of the previous Sunday, word for +word, but with double its former energy and emphasis. The Court +was full of excitement to learn what would be the fate of this +plain-dealing and fearless bishop. He was ordered into the king's +presence, who, with a stern voice, asked: "How dared you thus +offend me?" "I merely discharged my duty," was Latimer's reply. +The king arose from his seat, embraced the good man, saying, +"Blessed be God I have so honest a servant." + +He was a worthy successor of Nathan, who confronted King David +with his sin, and said, "Thou art the man." + +This Divine courage will surely accompany the fiery baptism of +the Spirit. + +What is it but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that gives +courage to Salvation Army Officers and Soldiers, enabling them to +face danger and difficulty and loneliness with joy, and attack +sin in its worst forms as fearlessly as David attacked Goliath? + +"Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord." + + "Shall I, for fear of feeble man, + The Spirit's course in me restrain? + Awed by a mortal's frown, shall I + Conceal the word of God most high? + Shall I, to soothe the unholy throng, + Soften Thy truth, or smooth my tongue? + + "How then before Thee shall I dare + To stand, or how Thine anger bear? + Yea, let men rage; since Thou wilt spread + Thy shadowing wings around my head; + Since in all pain Thy tender love + Will still my sure refreshment prove." + +3. He was _without guile_. "For our exhortation was not of +deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; but as we were allowed +of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, even so we speak; not +as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts." + +He was frank and open. He spoke right out of his heart. He was +transparently simple and straightforward. Since God had honoured +him with this infinite trust of preaching the Gospel, he sought +to so preach it that he should please God regardless of men. And +yet that is the surest way to please men. People who listen to +such a man feel his honesty, and realise that he is seeking to do +them good, to save them rather than to tickle their ears and win +their applause, and in their hearts they are pleased. + +But, anyway, whether or not they are pleased, he is to deliver +his message as an ambassador, and look to his home government for +his reward. He gets his commission from God, and it is God who +will try his heart and prove his ministry. Oh, to please Jesus! +Oh, to stand perfect before God after preaching His Gospel! + +4. He was _not a time-server nor a covetous man._ "Neither +at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of +covetousness; God is witness," he adds. + +There are three ways of reaching a man's purse: (1) Directly. (2) +By way of his head with flattering words. (3) By way of his heart +with manly, honest, saving words. The first way is robbery. The +second way is robbery, with the poison of a deadly, but pleasing, +opiate added, which may damn his soul. The third reaches his +purse by saving his soul and opening in his heart an unfailing +fountain of benevolence to bless himself and the world. + +It were better for a preacher to turn highwayman, and rob men +with a club and a strong hand, than, with smiles and smooth words +and feigned and fawning affection, to rob them with flattery, +while their poor souls, neglected and deceived, go down to Hell. +How will he meet them in the Day of Judgment, and look into their +horrorstricken faces, realising that he played and toyed with +their fancies and affections and pride to get money, and, instead +of faithfully warning them and seeking to save them, with +flattering words fattened their souls for destruction! + +Not so did Paul. "I seek not yours, but you," he wrote the +Corinthians. It was not their money, but their souls he wanted. + +But such faithful love will be able to command all men have to +give. Why, to some of his converts he wrote: "I bear you record, +that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own +eyes, and have given them to me" (Gal. iv. 15). But he sought not +to please them with flattering words, only to save them. + +So faithful was he in this matter, and so conscious of his +integrity, that he called God Himself into the witness-box. "God +is witness," says he. + +Blessed is the man who can call on God to witness for him; and +that man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells in fullness can do this. +Can you, my brother? + +5. He was _not vain-glorious, nor dictatorial, nor oppressive_. +Some men care nothing for money, but they care mightily for power +and place and the glory that men give. But Paul was free from +this spiritual itching. Listen to him: "Nor of men sought we +glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been +burdensome" (or "used authority") "as the Apostles of Christ." + +Said Solomon, "For men to seek their own glory is not glory," it +is only vain-glory. "How can ye believe, which receive honour one +of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" +asked Jesus. + +From all this Paul was free, and so is every man who is full of +the Holy Ghost. And it is only as we are thus free that with the +whole heart and with a single eye we can devote ourselves to the +work of saving men. + +6. With all his boldness and faithfulness he was _gentle_. +"We were gentle among you," he says, "as a nurse cherisheth her +children." + +The fierce hurricane which casts down the giant trees of the +forest is not so mighty as the gentle sunshine, which, from tiny +seeds and acorns, lifts aloft the towering spires of oak and fir +on a thousand hills and mountains. + +The wild storm that lashes the sea into foam and fury is feeble +compared to the gentle, yet immeasurably powerful influence, +which twice a day swings the oceans in resistless tides from +shore to shore. + +And as in the physical world the mighty powers are gentle in +their vast workings, so it is in the spiritual world. The light +that falls on the lids of the sleeping infant and wakes it from +its slumber, is not more gentle than the "still small voice" that +brings assurance of forgiveness or cleansing to them that look +unto Jesus. + +Oh, the gentleness of God! "Thy gentleness hath made me great," +said David. "I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of +Christ" (2 Cor. x. 1), wrote Paul. And again, "The fruit of the +Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness" (Gal. v. +22). And as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are gentle, so will +be the servant of the Lord who is filled with the Spirit. + +I shall never forget the gentleness of a mighty man of God whom I +well knew, who on the platform was clothed with zeal as with a +garment, and in his overwhelming earnestness was like a lion or a +consuming fire; but when dealing with a wounded or broken heart, +or with a seeking soul, no nurse with a little babe could be more +tender than he. + +7. Finally, Paul was full of _self-forgetful, self-sacrificing +love._ "So being affectionately desirous of you, we were +willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only, +but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us." + +No wonder he shook those heathen cities, overthrew their idols, +had great revivals, that his jailer was converted, and that his +converts would have gladly plucked out their eyes for him! Such +tender, self-sacrificing love compels attention, begets +confidence, enkindles love, and surely wins its object. + +This burning love led him to labour and sacrifice, and so live +and walk before them that he was not only a teacher, but an +example of all he taught, and could safely say, "Follow me." + +This love led him to preach the whole truth, that he might by all +means save them. He kept back no truth because it was unpopular, +for it was their salvation and not his own reputation and +popularity he sought. + +He preached not himself, but a crucified Christ, without the +shedding of whose blood there is no remission of sins; and +through that precious blood he preached present cleansing from +all sin, and the gift of the Holy Spirit for all who obediently +believe. + +And this love kept him faithful and humble and true to the end, +so that at last in sight of the martyr's death, he saw the +martyr's crown, and cried out: "I am now ready to be offered,... +I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have +kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of +righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me +at that day." + +He had been faithful, and now at the end he was oppressed with no +doubts and harassed with no bitter regrets, but looked forward +with eager joy to meeting his Lord and beholding the blessed face +of Him he loved. Hallelujah! + + "Have you received the Holy Ghost? + 'Twill fit you for the fight, + 'Twill make of you a mighty host, + To put your foes to flight. + + "Have you received the Holy Power? + 'Twill fall from Heaven on you, + From Jesus' throne this very hour, + 'Twill make you brave and true. + + "Oh, now receive the Holy Fire! + 'Twill burn away all dross, + All earthly, selfish, vain desire, + 'Twill make you love the Cross." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XVII. + +PREACHING. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of +this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" +asks Paul. And then he declares: "After that in the wisdom of God +the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the +foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." + +What kind of preaching is this? He does not say, "foolish +preaching," but the foolishness of such a way as that of +preaching. Certainly, it is not the moral essay, or the +intellectual, or semi-intellectual, kind of preaching that is +most generally heard throughout the world to-day, that is to save +men; for thousands of such sermons move and convert no one: nor +is it a mere noisy declamation called a sermon--noisy because +empty of all earnest thought and true feeling; but it must be the +kind of which Peter speaks when he writes of "them that preached +the Gospel ... with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven" (1 +Peter i. 12). + +No man is equipped to rightly preach the Gospel, and undertake +the spiritual oversight and instruction of souls, till he has +been anointed with the Holy Ghost. + +The disciples had been led to Jesus by John the Baptist, whose +mighty preaching laid a deep and broad foundation for their +spiritual education, and then for three years they had listened +to both the public and private teachings of Jesus; they had been +"eye-witnesses of His glory," of His life and death and +resurrection, and yet He commanded them to tarry in Jerusalem, +and wait for the Holy Spirit. He was to fit them for their +ministry. And if they, trained and taught by the Master Himself, +had need of the Holy Spirit to enable them to preach and testify +with wisdom and power, how much more do you and I need His +presence! + +Without Him they could do nothing. With Him they were invincible, +and could continue the work of Jesus. The mighty energy of His +working is seen in the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost. +The sermon itself does not seem to have been very remarkable; +indeed, it is principally composed of testimony backed up and +fortified by Scripture quotations, followed by exhortation, just as +are the sermons that are most effective to-day in the immediate +conversion and sanctification of men. "True preaching," said Horace +Bushnell, "is a testimony." + +Peter's Scripture quotations were apt, fitting the occasion and +the people to whom they were addressed. The testimony was bold +and joyous, the rushing outflow of a warm, fresh throbbing +experience; and the exhortation was burning, uncompromising in +its demands, and yet tender and full of sympathy and love. But a +Divine Presence was at work in that vast, mocking, wondering +throng, and it was He who made Peter's simple words search like +fire, and carry such overwhelming conviction to the hearts of the +people. + +And it is still so that whenever and wherever a man preaches +"with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven," there will be +conviction. + +Under Peter's sermon "they were pricked in their hearts." The +truth pierced them as a sword until they said, "What shall we +do?" They had been doubting and mocking a short time before, but +now they were earnestly inquiring the way to be saved. + +The speech may be without polish, the manner uncouth, and the +matter simple and plain; but conviction will surely follow any +preaching in the burning love and power and contagious joy of the +Holy Spirit. + +A few years ago a poor black boy in Africa, who had been stolen +for a slave, and most cruelly treated, heard a missionary talking +of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and his heart hungered and +thirsted for Him. In a strange manner he worked his way to New +York to find out more about the Holy Spirit, getting the captain +of the ship and several of the crew converted on the way. The +brother in New York to whom he came took him to a meeting the +first night he was in the city, and left him there, while he went +to fulfil another engagement. When he returned at a late hour, he +found a crowd of men at the penitent-form, led there by the +simple words of this poor black fellow. He took him to his +Sunday-school, and put him up to speak, while he attended to some +other matters. When he turned from these affairs that had +occupied his attention for only a little while, he found the +penitent-form full of teachers and scholars, weeping before the +Lord. What the black boy had said he did not know; but he was +bowed with wonder and filled with joy, for it was the power of +the Holy Spirit. + +Men used to fall as though cut down in battle under the preaching +of Wesley, Whitefield, Finney, and others. And while there may +not be the same physical manifestation at all times, there will +surely be the same opening of eyes to spiritual things, breaking +of hearts, and piercing of consciences. The Spirit under the +preaching of a man filled with the Holy Ghost will often come +upon a congregation like a wind, and heads will droop, eyes will +brim with tears, and hearts will break under His convicting +power. I remember a proud young woman who had been mercilessly +criticising us for several nights smitten in this way. She was +smiling when suddenly the Holy Spirit winged a word to her heart, +and instantly her countenance changed, her head drooped, and for +an hour or more she sobbed and struggled while her proud heart +broke, and she found her way with true repentance and faith to +the feet of Jesus, and her Heavenly Father's favour. How often +have we seen such sights as this under the preaching of The +General! And it ought to be a common sight under the preaching of +all servants of God, for what are we sent for but to convict men +of their sin and their need, and by the power of the Spirit to +lead them to the Saviour? + +And not only will there be conviction under such preaching, but +generally, if not always, there will be conversion and sanctification. + +Three thousand people accepted Christ under Peter's Pentecostal +sermon, and later five thousand were converted, and a multitude +of the priests were obedient to the faith. And it was so under +the preaching of Philip in Samaria, of Peter in Lydda and Saron +and in Caesarea, and of Paul in Ephesus and other cities. + +To be sure, the preaching of Stephen in its immediate effect only +resulted in enraging his hearers until they stoned him to death; +but it is highly probable that the ultimate result was the +conversion of Paul, who kept the clothes of those who stoned him, +and through Paul the evangelisation of the Gentiles. + +One of the greatest of American evangelists sought with agonising +prayers and tears the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and received +it; and then he said he preached the same sermons; but where +before it had been as one beating the air, now hundreds were +saved. + +It is this that has made Salvation Army Officers successful. +Young, inexperienced, without special gifts, and without +learning, but with the baptism, they have been mighty to win +souls. The hardest hearts have been broken, the darkest minds +illuminated, the most stubborn wills subdued, and the wildest +natures tamed by them. Their words have been with power, and have +convicted and converted and sanctified men, and whole communities +have been transformed by their labours. + +But without this Presence great gifts and profound and accurate +learning are without avail in the salvation of men. We often see +men with great natural powers, splendidly trained, and equipped +with everything save this fiery baptism, and they labour and +preach year after year without seeing a soul saved. They have +spent years in study; but they have not spent a day, much less +ten days, fasting and praying and waiting upon God for His +anointing that should fill them with heavenly wisdom and power +for their work. They are like a great gun loaded and primed, but +without a spark of fire to turn the powder and ball into a +resistless lightning bolt. + +It is fire men need, and that they get from God in agonising, +wrestling, listening prayer that will not be denied; and when +they get it, and not till then, will they preach with the Holy +Ghost sent down from Heaven, and surely men shall be saved. Such +preaching is not foolish. The Holy Spirit makes the word alive. +He brings it to the remembrance of the preachers in whom He +abides, and He applies it to the heart of the hearers, lightening +up the soul as with a sun until sin is seen in all its hideousness, +or cutting as a sharp sword, piercing the heart with resistless +conviction of the guilt and shame of sin. + +Peter had no time to consult the Scriptures and prepare a sermon +on the morning of Pentecost; but the Holy Spirit quickened his +memory, and brought to his mind the Scriptures appropriate to the +occasion. + +Hundreds of years before, the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of the +prophet Joel, had foretold that in the last days the Spirit +should be poured out upon all flesh, and that their sons and +daughters should prophesy. And the same Spirit that spoke through +Joel now made Peter to see and declare that this Pentecostal +baptism was that of which Joel spoke. + +By the mouth of David He had said: "Thou wilt not leave My soul +in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption"; +and now Peter, by the inspiration of the same Spirit, applies +this Scripture to the resurrection of Jesus, and so proves to the +Jews that the One they had condemned and killed was the Holy One +foretold in prophecy and psalm. + +And so to-day the Holy Spirit inspires men who receive Him to use +the Scriptures to awaken, convict, and save men. + +When Finney was a young preacher, he was invited to a country +school-house to preach. On the way there he became much +distressed in soul, and his mind seemed blank and dark, when all +at once this text, spoken to Lot in Sodom by the angels, came to +his mind: "Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will +destroy this city." He explained the text, told the people about +Lot, and the wickedness of Sodom, and applied it to them. While +he spoke they began to look exceedingly angry, and then, as he +earnestly exhorted them to give up their sins and seek the Lord, +they began to fall from their seats as though stricken down in +battle, and to cry to God for mercy. A great revival followed; +many were converted, and a number of the converts became +ministers of the Gospel. + +To Finney's amazement, he learned afterwards that the place was +called Sodom, because of its extreme wickedness, and the old man +who had invited him to preach was called Lot, because he was the +only God-fearing man in the place. Evidently the Holy Spirit +worked through Finney to accomplish these results. And such +inspiration is not uncommon with those who are filled with the +Spirit. + +But this reinforcement of the mind and memory by the Holy Spirit +does not do away with the need of study. The Spirit quickens that +which is already in the mind and memory, as the warm sun and +rains of spring quicken the sleeping seeds that are in the +ground, and only those. + +The sun does not put the seed in the soil, nor does the Holy +Spirit without our attention and study put the word of God in our +minds. For that we should prayerfully and patiently study. + +"We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the +ministry of the word," said the Apostles. + +"Study to show thyself approved of God, a workman that needeth +not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the word of truth," wrote +Paul to Timothy. + +Those men have been best able to rightly divide the word, and +have been most mightily used by the Holy Spirit, who have most +carefully and prayerfully studied the word of God, and most +constantly and lovingly meditated upon it. + +4. This preaching is _healing and comforting._ Preaching +"with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven" is indescribably +searching in its effects. But it is also edifying, strengthening, +comforting to those who are wholly the Lord's. It cuts, but only +to cure. It searches, but only to save. It is constructive, as +well as destructive. It tears down sin and pride and unbelief, +but it builds up faith and righteousness and holiness and all the +graces of a Christian character. It warms the heart with love, +strengthens faith, and confirms the will in all holy purposes. + +Every preacher baptised with the Holy Ghost can say with Jesus: +"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath +anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me +to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the +captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; +to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of +vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn." + +Seldom is there a congregation in which there are only those who +need to be convicted. There will also be meek and gentle ones to +whom should be brought a message of joy and good tidings; broken- +hearted ones to be bound up; wounded ones to heal; tempted ones to +be delivered; and those whom Satan has bound by some fear or habit +to be set free; and the Holy Spirit who knows all hearts will +inspire the word that shall bless these needy ones. + +The preacher filled with the Holy Spirit, who is instant in +prayer, constant in the study of God's word, and steadfast and +active in faith, will surely be so helped that he can say with +Isaiah: "The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, +that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is +weary" (Isaiah i. 4). And as with little Samuel, the Lord will +"let none of his words fall to the ground" (1 Samuel iii. 19). + +He will expect results, and God will make them follow his +preaching as surely as corn follows the planting and cultivating +of the farmer. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XVIII. + +THE HOLY SPIRIT'S CALL TO THE WORK. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +"THE Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath +anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent +Me" (Isaiah lxi. 1), is the testimony of the workman God sends. + +God chooses His own workmen, and it is the office of the Holy +Spirit to call whom He will to preach the Gospel. I doubt not He +calls men to other employments for His glory, and would still +more often do so, if men would but listen and wait upon Him to +know His will. + +He called Bezaleel and Aholiab to build the tabernacle. He called +and commissioned the Gentile king, Cyrus, to rebuild Jerusalem +and restore His chastised and humbled people to their own land. +And did He not call Joan of Arc to her strange and wonderful +mission? And Washington and Lincoln? + +And, no doubt, He _leads_ most men by His providence to +their life-work; but the call to preach the Gospel is more than a +providential leading; it is a distinct and imperative conviction. +Bishop Simpson, in his "Lectures on Preaching," says:-- + +"Even in its faintest form there is this distinction between a +call to the ministry and a choice of other professions: a young +man may _wish_ to be a physician; he may _desire_ to enter the +navy; he would _like_ to be a farmer; but he feels he _ought_ to +be a minister. It is this feeling of _ought_, or obligation, +which in its feeblest form indicates the Divine call. It is not +in the aptitude, taste, or desire, but in the conscience, that +its root is found. It is the voice of God to the human conscience, +saying, 'You ought to preach.'" + +Sometimes the call comes as distinctly as though a voice had +spoken from the skies into the depths of the heart. + +A young man who was studying law was converted. After a while he +was convicted for sanctification, and while seeking he heard, as +it were, a voice, saying, "Will you devote all your time to the +Lord?" He replied: "I am to be a lawyer, not a preacher, Lord." +But not until he had said, "Yes, Lord," could he find the +blessing. + +A thoughtless, godless young fellow was working in the corn-field +when a telegram was handed him announcing the death of his +brother, a brilliant and devoted Salvation Army Field Officer; +and there and then, unsaved as he was, God called him, showed him +a vast Army with ranks broken, where his brother had fallen, and +made him to feel that he should fill the breach in the ranks. +Fourteen months later he took up the sword, and entered the Fight +from the same platform from which his brother fell, and is to-day +one of our most successful and promising Field Officers. + +Again, the call may come as a quiet suggestion, a gentle +conviction, as though a gossamer bridle were placed upon the +heart and conscience to guide the man into the work of the Lord. +The suggestion gradually becomes clearer, the conviction +strengthens until it masters the man, and if he seeks to escape +it, he finds the silken bridle to be one of stoutest thongs and +firmest steel. + +It was so with me. When but a boy of eleven, I heard a man +preaching, and I said to myself, "Oh, how beautiful to preach!" +Two years later I was converted, and soon the conviction came +upon me that I should preach. Later, I decided to follow another +profession; but the conviction increased in strength, while I +struggled against it, and turned away my ears and went on with my +studies. Yet in every crisis, or hour of stillness, when my soul +faced God, the conviction that I must preach burned itself deeper +into my conscience. I rebelled against it. I felt I would almost +rather (but not quite) go to Hell than to submit. Then at last a +great "Woe is me, if I preach not the Gospel," took possession of +me, and I yielded, and God won. Hallelujah! + +The first year He gave me three revivals, with many souls; and +now I would rather preach Jesus to poor sinners and feed His +lambs than to be an archangel before the Throne. Some day, some +day, He will call me into His blessed presence, and I shall stand +before His face, and praise Him for ever for counting me worthy, +and calling me to preach His glad Gospel, and share in His joy of +saving the lost. The "woe" is lost in love and delight through +the baptism of the Spirit and the sweet assurance that Jesus is +pleased. + +Occasionally, the call comes to a man who is ready and responds +promptly and gladly. When Isaiah received the fiery touch that +purged his life and purified his heart, he "heard the voice of +the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" +And in the joy and power of his new experience, he cried out, +"Here am I; send me!" (Isaiah vi. 5-8). + +When Paul received his call, he says, "Immediately I conferred +not with flesh and blood" (Gal. i. 16), and he got up and went as +the Lord led him. + +But more often it seems the Lord finds men preoccupied with other +plans and ambitions, or encompassed with obstacles and difficulties, +or oppressed with a deep sense of unworthiness or unfitness. Moses +argued that he could not talk. "O Lord!" he said, "I am not +eloquent, neither heretofore nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy +servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." + +And then the Lord condescended, as He always does, to reason with +the backward man. "Who hath made man's mouth?" He asks, "or who +maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I +the Lord? Now, therefore, go, and I will be with thy mouth, and +teach thee what thou shalt say" (Exodus iv. 10-12). + +When the call of God came to Jeremiah, he shrank back, and said, +"Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." But the +Lord replied, "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all +that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt +speak. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to +deliver thee" (Jeremiah i. 6-8). + +And so the call of God comes to-day to those who shrink and feel +that they are the most unfit, or most hedged in by insuperable +difficulties. + +I know a man, who, when converted, could not tell A from B. He +knew nothing whatever about the Bible, and stammered so badly +that, when asked his own name, it would usually take him a minute +or so to tell it; added to this, he lisped badly, and was subject +to a nervous affliction which seemed likely to unfit him for any +kind of work whatever. But God poured light and love into his +heart, called him to preach, and to-day he is one of the +mightiest soul-winners in the whole round of my acquaintance. +When he speaks the house is always packed to the doors, and the +people hang on his words with wonder and joy. + +He was converted at a Camp meeting, and sanctified wholly in a +cornfield. He learned to read; but, being too poor to afford a +light in the evening, he studied a large-print Bible by the light +of the full moon. To-day, he has the Bible almost committed to +memory, and when he speaks he does not open the Book, but reads +his lesson from memory, and quotes proof texts from Genesis to +Revelation without mistake, and gives chapter and verse for every +quotation. When he talks his face shines, and his speech is like +honey for sweetness, and like bullets fired from a gun for power. +He is one of the weak and foolish ones God has chosen to confound +the wise and mighty (1 Cor. i. 27). + +If God calls a man, He will so corroborate the call in some way, +that men may know that there is a prophet among them. It will be +with him as it was with Samuel. "And Samuel grew, and the Lord +was with him, and did let none of His words fall to the ground. +And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was +established to be a prophet of the Lord" (1 Samuel iii. 19, 20). + +If the man himself is uncertain about the call, God will deal +patiently with him, as He did with Gideon, to make him certain. +His fleece will be wet with dew when the earth is dry, or dry +when the earth is wet; or he will hear of some tumbling barley +cake smiting the tents of Midian, that will strengthen his faith, +and make him to know that God is with him (Judges vi. 36-40; +vii. 9-15). + +If the door is shut and difficulties hedge the way, God will go +before the man He calls, and open the door and sweep away the +difficulties (Isaiah xlv. 2, 3). + +If others think the man so ignorant and unfit that they doubt his +call, God will give him such grace or such power to win souls +that they shall have to acknowledge that God has chosen him. It +was in this way that God made a whole National Headquarters, from +the Commissioner downwards, to know that He had chosen the +elevator boy for His work. The boy got scores of his passengers +on the elevator saved, and then he was commissioned and sent into +the Field to devote all his time to saving men. + +The Lord will surely let the man's comrades and brethren know, as +surely as He did the Church at Antioch, when "the Holy Ghost +said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have +called them" (Acts xiii. 2). + +Sometimes the one who is called will try to hide it in his heart, +and then God stirs up some Officer or minister, some Soldier or +mother in Israel, to lay a hand on his shoulders, and ask, "Are +you not called to the work?" and he finds he cannot hide himself +nor escape from the call, any more than could Adam hide himself +from God behind the trees of the garden, or Jonah escape God's +call by taking ship for Tarshish. + +Happy is the man who does not try to escape, but, though +trembling at the mighty responsibility, assumes it, and, with all +humility and faithfulness, sets to work by prayer and patient, +continuous study of God's word, to fit himself for God's work. He +will need to prepare himself, for the call to the work is also a +call to preparation, continuous preparation of the fullest +possible kind. + +The man whom God calls cannot safely neglect or despise the call. +He will find his mission on earth, his happiness and peace, his +power and prosperity, his reward in Heaven, and probably Heaven +itself, bound up with that call and dependent upon it. He may run +away from it, as did Jonah, and find a waiting ship to favour his +flight; but he will also find fierce storms and bellowing seas +overtaking him, and big-mouthed fishes of trouble and disaster +ready to swallow him. + +But if he heeds the call, and cheerfully goes where God appoints, +God will go with him; he shall nevermore be left alone. The Holy +Spirit will surely accompany him, and he may be one of the +happiest men on earth, one of the gladdest creatures in God's +universe. + +"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," said +Jesus, as He commissioned His disciples to go to all nations and +preach the Gospel. "My presence shall go with thee," said Jehovah +to Moses, when sending him to face Pharaoh and free Israel, and +lead them to the Promised Land. + +And to the boy Jeremiah, He said, "Be not afraid of their faces: +for I am with thee to deliver thee.... And they shall fight +against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am +with thee" (Jeremiah i. 8, 19). + +I used to read these words with a great and rapturous joy, as I +realised by faith that they were also meant for me, and for every +man sent of God, and that His blessed presence was with me every +time I spoke to the people or dealt with an individual soul, or +knelt in prayer with a penitent seeker after God; and I still +read them so. + +Has He called you into the work, my brother? And are you +conscious of His helpful, sympathising, loving presence with you? +If so, let no petty offence, no hardship, nor danger, nor dread +of the future, cause you to turn aside or draw back. Stick to the +work till He calls you out, and when He so calls you can go with +open face and a heart abounding with love, joy, and peace, and He +will still go with you. + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XIX. + +THE SHEATHED SWORD: A LAW OF THE SPIRIT. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +JUST as the moss and the oak are higher in the order of creation +than the clod of clay and the rock, the bird and beast than the +moss and the oak, the man than the bird and the beast, so the +spiritual man is a higher being than the natural man. The sons of +God are a new order of being. The Christian is a "new creation." +Just as there are laws governing the life of the plant, and other +and higher laws that of the bird and beast, so there are higher +laws for man, and still higher for the Christian. It was with +regard to one of these higher laws that govern the heavenly life +of the Christian that Jesus said to Peter, "Put up thy sword." + +Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My +kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight." The +natural man is a fighter. It is the law of his carnal nature. He +fights with fist and sword, tongue and wit. His kingdom is of +this world, and he fights for it with such weapons as this world +furnishes. The Christian is a citizen of Heaven, and is subject +to its law, which is universal, wholehearted love. In his kingdom +he conquers not by fighting, but by submitting. When an enemy +takes his coat, he overcomes him, not by going to law, but by +generously giving him his cloak also. When his enemy compels him +to go a mile with him, he vanquishes the enemy by cheerfully +going two miles with him. When he is smitten on one cheek, he +wins his foe by meekly turning the other cheek. This is the law +of the new life from Heaven, and only by recognising and obeying +it can that new life be sustained and passed on to others. This +is the narrow way which leads to life eternal, "and few there be +that find it," or, finding it, are willing to walk in it. + +A Russian peasant, Sutajeff, could get no help from the religious +teachers of his village, so he learned to read, and while +studying the Bible he found this narrow way, and walked gladly in +it. One night neighbours of his stole some of his grain, but in +their haste or carelessness they left a bag. He found it, and ran +after them to restore it, "for," said he, "fellows who have to +steal must be hard up." And by this Christlike spirit he saved +both himself and them, for he kept the spirit of love in his own +heart, and they were converted and became his most ardent +disciples. + +A beggar woman, to whom he gave lodging, stole the bedding and +ran away with it. She was pursued by the neighbours, and was just +about to be put in prison when Sutajeff appeared, became her +advocate, secured her acquittal, and gave her food and money for +her journey. + +He recognised the law of his new life and gladly obeyed it, and +so was not overcome of evil, but persistently and triumphantly +overcame evil with good (Romans xii. 21). + +This is the spirit and method of Jesus; and by men filled with +this spirit and following this method He will yet win the world. + +He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His +life a ransom for many. His spirit is not one of self-seeking, but +of self-sacrifice. Some mysterious majesty of His presence or voice +so awed and overcame His foes that they went back and fell to the +ground before Him in the Garden of His agony, but He meekly +submitted Himself to them; and when Peter laid to with his sword, +and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, Jesus said to him, +"Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father hath +given Me, shall I not drink it?" + +This was the spirit of Isaac. When he digged a well, the +Philistines strove with his servants for it; so he digged +another; and when they strove for that, he removed and digged yet +another, "and for that they strove not: and he called the name of +it Rehoboth" (margin, _room_): "and he said, For now the +Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the +land.... And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, +I am the God of Abraham, thy father: fear not, for I am with +thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed" (Genesis xxvi. +22, 24). + +This was the spirit of David, when Saul was hunting for his life; +twice David could have slain him, and when urged to do so, he +said, "As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day +shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle and perish. +The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the +Lord's anointed" (1 Samuel xxvi. 10, 11). + +This was the spirit of Paul. He says, "Being reviled, we bless; +being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we intreat" (1 +Cor. iv. 12, 13). "The servant of the Lord must not strive," +wrote Paul to Timothy, "but be gentle unto all men." This is the +spirit of our King, this is the law of His Kingdom. + +Is this your spirit? When you are reviled, bemeaned and +slandered, and are tempted to retort, He says to you, "Put up thy +sword into the sheath." When you are wronged and illtreated, and +men ride rough-shod over you, and you feel it but just to smite +back, He says, "Put up thy sword into the sheath." "Live +peaceably with all men." Your weapons are not carnal, but +spiritual, now that you belong to Him, and have your citizenship +in Heaven. If you fight with the sword; if you retort and smite +back when you are wronged, you quench the Spirit; you get out of +the narrow way, and your new life from Heaven will perish. + +An Officer went to a hard Corps, and after a while found that his +predecessor was sending back to friends for money which his own +Corps much needed. He felt it to be an injustice, and, losing +sight of the Spirit of Jesus, he made a complaint about it, and +the money was returned. But he got lean in his soul. He had +quenched the Spirit. He had broken the law of the Kingdom. He had +not only refused to give his cloak, but had fought for and +secured the return of the coat. He had lost the smile of Jesus, +and his poor heart was sad and heavy within him. He came to me +with anxious inquiry as to what I thought of his action. I had to +admit that the other man had transgressed, and that the money +ought to be returned, but that he should have been more grieved +over the unchristlike spirit of his brother than over the loss of +the five dollars, and that like Sutajeff he should have said, +"Poor fellow! he must be hard up; I will send him five dollars +myself. He has taken my coat, he shall have my cloak too." When I +told him that story, he came to himself very quickly, and was +soon back in the narrow way and rejoicing in the smile of Jesus +once again. + +"But will not people walk over us, if we do not stand up for our +rights?" you ask. I do not argue that you are not to stand up for +your rights; but that you are to stand up for your higher rather +than your lower rights, the rights of your heavenly life rather +than your earthly life, and that you are to stand up for your +rights in the way and spirit of Jesus rather than in the way and +spirit of the world. + +If men wrong you intentionally, they wrong themselves far worse +than they wrong you; and if you have the spirit of Jesus in your +heart you will pity them more than you pity yourself. They nailed +Jesus to the cross and hung Him up to die; they gave Him gall and +vinegar to drink; they cast votes for His seamless robe, and +divided His garments between them, while the crowd wagged their +heads at Him and mocked Him. Great was the injustice and wrong +they were inflicting upon Him, but He was not filled with anger, +only pity. He thought not of the wrong done Him, but of the wrong +they did themselves, and their sin against His Heavenly Father, +and He prayed not for judgment upon them, but that they might be +forgiven, and He won them, and is winning and will win the world. +Bless God! + +"By mercy and truth iniquity is purged," wrote Solomon. "Put up +thy sword into the sheath, "and take mercy and truth for your +weapons, and God will be with you and for you, and great shall be +your victory and joy. Hallelujah! + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XX. + +VICTORY THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT OVER SUFFERING. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +HAD there been no sin our Heavenly Father would have found other +means by which to develop in us passive virtues, and train us in +the graces of meekness, patience, long-suffering, and forbearance, +which so beautify and display the Christian character. But since +sin is here, with its contradictions and falsehoods, its darkness, +its wars, brutalities and injustices, producing awful harvests of +pain and sorrow, God, in wonderful wisdom and lovingkindness, +turns even these into instruments by which to fashion in us +beautiful graces. Storm succeeds sunshine, and darkness the light; +pain follows hard on the heels of pleasure, while sorrow peers +over the shoulder of joy; gladness and grief, rest and toil, +peace and war, interminably intermingled, follow each other in +ceaseless succession in this world. We cannot escape suffering +while in the body. But we can receive it with a faith that robs +it of its terror, and extracts from it richest blessing; from +the flinty rock will gush forth living waters, and the carcase +of the lion will furnish the sweetest honey. + +This is so even when the suffering is a result of our own folly +or sin. It is intended not only in some measure as a punishment, +but also as a teacher, a corrective, a remedy, a warning; and it +will surely work for good, if, instead of repining and vainly +regretting the past, we steadily look unto Jesus and learn our +lesson in patience and thankfulness. + + "If all the skies were sunshine, + Our faces would be fain + To feel once more upon them + The cooling plash of rain. + + "If all the world were music, + Our hearts would often long + For one sweet strain of silence + To break the endless song. + + "If life were always merry, + Our souls would seek relief + And rest from weary laughter + In the quiet arms of grief." + +Doubtless all our suffering is a result of sin, but not +necessarily the sin of the sufferer. Jesus was the sinless One, +but He was also the Chief of sufferers. Paul's great and lifelong +sufferings came upon him, not because of his sins, but rather +because he had forsaken sin, and was following Jesus in a world +of sin, and seeking the salvation of his fellows. In this path +there is no escape from suffering, though there are hidden and +unspeakable consolations. "In the world ye shall have tribulation," +said Jesus. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer +persecution," wrote Paul. + +Sooner or later, suffering in some form comes to each of us. It +may come through broken health, or pain and weariness of body; or +through mental anguish, moral distress, spiritual darkness and +uncertainty. It may come through the loss of loved ones, through +betrayal by trusted friends; or through deferred or ruined hopes, +or base ingratitude; or perhaps in unrequited toil and sacrifice +and ambitions all unfulfilled. Nothing more clearly distinguishes +the man filled with the Spirit from the man who is not than the +way each receives suffering. + +One with triumphant faith and shining face and strong heart +glories in tribulation, and counts it all joy. To this class +belong the Apostles, who, beaten and threatened, "departed from +the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer +shame for His Name" (Acts v. 41). + +The other with doubts and fears, murmurs and complains, and to +his other miseries adds that of a rebellious heart and discontented +mind. One sees the enemy's armed host, and unmixed distress +and danger; the other sees the angel of the Lord, with abundant +succour and safety (2 Kings vi. 15-17). + +An evangelist of my acquaintance told a story that illustrates +this. When a pastor he went one morning to visit two sisters who +were greatly afflicted. They were about the same age, and had +long been professing Christians and members of the Church. He +asked the first one upon whom he called, "How is it with you this +morning?" "Oh, I have not slept all night," she replied. "I have +so much pain. It is so hard to have to lie here. I cannot see why +God deals so with me." Evidently, she was not filled with the +Spirit, but was in a controversy with the Lord about her +sufferings, and would not be comforted. + +Leaving her he called immediately upon the other sister, and +asked, "How are you to-day?" "Oh, I had such a night of +suffering!" she replied. "Then," said he, "there came out upon +her worn face, furrowed and pale, a beautiful radiance, and she +added, "but Jesus was so near and helped me so, that I could +suffer this way and more, if my Father thinks best"; and on she +went with like words of cheer and triumph that made the sick room +a vestibule of glory. No lack of comfort in her heart, for the +Comforter Himself, the Holy Spirit, had been invited and had come +in. One had the Comforter in fullness, the other had not. + +Probably, no man ever suffered more than Paul, but with soldier- +like fortitude he bore his heavy burdens, faced his constant and +exacting labours, endured his sore trials, disappointments, and +bitter persecutions by fierce and relentless enemies; he stood +unmoved amid shipwrecks, stripes and imprisonments, cold, hunger, +and homelessness without a whimper that might suggest repining or +discouragement, or an appeal for pity. Indeed, he went beyond +simple uncomplaining fortitude, and said, "we glory in tribulation" +(Romans v. 3); "I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation" +(2 Cor. vii. 4); "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, +in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake" +(2 Cor. xii. 10). After a terrible scourging upon his bare back, +he was thrust into a loathsome inner dungeon, his feet fast in +the stocks, with worse things probably awaiting him on the morrow. +Nevertheless, we find him and Silas, his companion in suffering, +at midnight praying and singing praises unto God (Acts xvi. 25). + +What is his secret? Listen to him: "Because the love of God is +shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto +us" (Romans v. 5). His prayer for his Ephesian brethren had been +answered in his own heart: "That He would grant you, according to +the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His +Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by +faith." And this inner strength and consciousness, through faith, +in an indwelling Christ enabled him to receive suffering and +trial, not stoically as the Red Indian, nor hilariously, in a +spirit of bravado, but cheerfully and with a thankful heart. + +Arnold of Rugby has written something about his "most dear and +blessed sister" that illustrates the power flowing from +exhaustless fountains of inner joy and strength through the +working of the Holy Spirit. He says:-- + +"I never saw a more perfect instance of the spirit and power of +love, and of a sound mind. Her life was a daily martyrdom for +twenty years, during which she adhered to her early-formed +resolution of never talking about herself; she was thoughtful +about the very pins and ribands of my wife's dress, about the +making of a doll's cap for a child--but of herself, save only as +regarded her ripening in all goodness, wholly thoughtless, +enjoying everything lovely, graceful, beautiful, high-minded, +whether in God's works or man's, with the keenest relish; +inheriting the earth to the very fullness of the promise, though +never leaving her crib, nor changing her posture; and preserved, +through the very valley of the shadow of death, from all fear or +impatience, and from every cloud of impaired reason, which might +mar the beauty of Christ's and the Spirit's work." + +It is not by hypnotising the soul, nor by blessing it into a +state of ecstatic insensibility, that the Lord enables the man +filled with the Spirit to thus triumph over suffering. Rather it +is by giving the soul a sweet, constant, and unshaken assurance +through faith: First, that it is freely and fully accepted in +Christ. Second, that whatever suffering comes, it is measured, +weighed, and permitted by love infinitely tender, and guided by +wisdom that cannot err. Third, that however difficult it may be +to explain suffering now, it is nevertheless _one_ of the +"all things" which "work together for good to them that love +God," and that in a "little while" it will not only be swallowed +up in the ineffable blessedness and glory, but that in some way +it is actually helping to work out "a far more exceeding and +eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. iv. 7). Fourth, that though the +furnace has been heated seven times hotter than was wont, yet +"the Form... like unto the Son of God" is walking with us in the +fire; though triumphant enemies have thrust us into the lions' +den, yet the angel of the Lord arrived first and locked the +lions' jaws; though foes may have formed against us sharp +weapons, yet they cannot prosper, for His shield and buckler +defend us; though all things be lost, yet "Thou remainest"; and +though "my flesh and my heart may fail, God is the strength of my +heart and my portion for ever." + +Not all God's dear children thus triumph over their difficulties +and sufferings, but this is God's standard, and they may attain +unto it, if, by faith, they will open their hearts and "be filled +with the Spirit." + +Here is the testimony of a Salvation Army Officer up to date:-- + +"Viewed from the outside, my life as a sinner was easy and +untroubled, over which most of my friends expressed envy; while +these same friends thought my life as a Christian full of care, +toil, hardship, and immense loss. This, however, was only an +outside view, and the real state of the case was exactly the +opposite of what they supposed. For in all the pleasure-seeking, +idleness, and freedom from responsibility of my life apart from +God, I carried an immeasurable burden of fear, anxiety, and +constantly recurring disappointment; trifles weighed upon me, and +the thought of death haunted me with vague terrors. + +"But when I gave myself wholly to God, though my lot became at +once one of toil, responsibility, comparative poverty and +sacrifice, yet I could not feel pain in any storm that broke over +my head, because of the presence of God. It was not so much that +I was insensible to trouble, as sensible of His presence and +love; and the worst trials were as nothing in my sight, nor have +been for over twenty-two years. While as for death, it appears +only as a doorway into more abundant life, and I can alter an old +German hymn, and sing with joy: + + "'Oh, how my heart with rapture dances. + To think my dying hour advances! + Then, Lord, with Thee! + My Lord, with Thee!'" + +This is faith's triumph over the worst the world can offer +through the blessed fullness of the indwelling Comforter. Bless +His Name! + + "Here speaks the Comforter, Light of the straying, + Hope of the penitent, Advocate sure, + Joy of the desolate, tenderly saying, + 'Earth has no sorrow My grace cannot cure.'" + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XXI. + +THE OVERFLOWING BLESSING. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +THE children of Israel were instructed by Moses to give tithes of +all they had to the Lord, and in return God promised to richly +bless them, making their fields and vineyards fruitful and +causing their flocks and herds to safely multiply. But they +became covetous and unbelieving, and began to rob God by +withholding their tithes, and then God began to withhold His +blessing from them. + +But still God loved and pitied them, and sent to them again and +again by His prophets; and finally by the prophet Malachi He +said: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there +may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the +Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and +pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to +receive it" (Malachi iii. 10). + +He promised to make their barns overflow, if they would be +faithful, if they would pay their tithes and discharge their +obligations to Him. + +Now, this overflow of barns and granaries is a type of +overflowing hearts and lives when we give ourselves fully to God, +and the blessed Holy Ghost comes in, and Jesus becomes all and in +all to us. The blessing is too big to contain, but just bursts +out and overflows through the life, the looks, the conversation, +the very tones of the voice, and gladdens and refreshes and +purifies wherever it goes. Jesus calls it "rivers of living +water" (John vii. 38). + +There is an overflow of _love_. Sin brings in an overflow of +hate, so that the world is filled with wars and murders, +slanders, oppression, and selfishness. But this blessing causes +love to overflow. Schools, colleges, and hospitals are built; +shelters, rescue homes, and orphanages are opened; even war +itself is in some measure humanised by the Red Cross Society and +Christian commissions. Sinners love their own, but this blessing +makes us to love all men--strangers, the heathen, and even our +enemies. + +There is an overflow of _peace_. It settles old quarrels and +grudges. It makes a different atmosphere in the home. The +children know it when father and mother get the Comforter. Kindly +words and sweet goodwill take the place of bitterness and strife. +I suspect that even the dumb beasts realise the overflow. + +I heard a laughable story of a man whose cow would switch her +tail in his face, and then kick over the pail when he was milking +her, after which he would always give her a beating with the +stool on which he sat. But he got the blessing, and his heart was +overflowing with peace. The next morning he went to milk that +cow, and when the pail was nearly full, swish! came the tail in +his face, and with a vicious kick she knocked over the pail, and +then ran across the barn-yard. The blessed man picked up the +empty pail and stool and went over to the cow, which stood +trembling, awaiting the usual kicks and beating; but instead he +patted her gently, and said, "You may kick over that pail as +often as you please, but I am not going to beat you any more"; +and the cow seemed to understand, for she dropped her head and +quietly began to eat, and never kicked again! That story is good +enough to be true, and I doubt not it is, for certainly when the +Comforter comes a great peace fills the heart and overflows +through all the life. + +There is an overflow of _joy_. It makes the face to shine; +it glances from the eye, and bubbles out in thanksgiving and +praise. You never can tell when one who has the blessing will +shout out, "Glory to God! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen!" + +I have sometimes seen a whole congregation wakened up and +refreshed and made glad by the joyous overflow from one clean- +hearted soul. A Salvation Soldier or Officer with an overflow of +genuine joy is worth a whole company of ordinary folks. He is a +host within himself, and is a living proof of the text, "The joy +of the Lord is your strength." + +There is an overflow of _patience_ and _long- +suffering._ A man got this blessing, and his wicked wife was +so enraged that she left him, and went across the way and lived +as the wife of his unmarried brother. He was terribly tempted to +take his gun and go over and kill them both. But he prayed about +it, and the Lord gave him the patience and long-suffering of +Jesus, who bears long with the backslider who leaves Him and +joins himself with the world; and he continued to treat them with +the utmost kindness, as though they had done him no wrong. Some +people might say the man was weak, but I should say he was +unusually "strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," and a +neighbour of his told me that all his neighbours believed in his +religion. + +There is an overflow of _goodness_ and _generosity_. I +read the other day of a poor man who supports eight workers in +the foreign mission field. When asked how he did it, he replied +that he wore celluloid collars, did his own washing, denied +himself, and managed his affairs in order to do it. + +Do you ask, "How can I get such a blessing?" You will get it by +bringing in all the tithes, by giving yourself in love and +obedience and wholehearted, joyous consecration to Jesus, as a +true bride gives herself to her husband. Do not try to bargain +with the Lord and buy it of Him, but wait on Him in never-give-in +prayer and confident expectation, and He will give it to you. And +then you must not hold it selfishly for your own gratification, +but let it overflow to the hungry, thirsty, fainting world about +you. God bless you even now, and do for you exceeding abundantly +above all you ask or think! + +A comrade went from one of my meetings recently with a heart +greatly burdened for the blessing, and for two or three days and +nights did little else but read the Bible, and pray and cry to +God for a clean heart filled with the Spirit. At last the +Comforter came, and with Him fullness of peace and joy and soul- +rest, and that day this comrade led a number of others into the +blessing. Hallelujah! "If ye then, being evil, know how to give +good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly +Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him" (Luke xi. 13). +"_Ask,... seek,... knock_." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XXII. + +IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE OF HOLINESS TO SPIRITUAL +LEADERS. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +A mighty man inspires and trains other men to be mighty. We +wonder and exclaim often at the slaughter of Goliath by David, +and we forget that David was the forerunner of a race of +fearless, invincible warriors and giant-killers. + +If we would in this light but study and remember the story of +David's mighty men, it would be most instructive to us. + +Moses inspired a tribe of cowering, toiling, sweat-begrimed, +spiritless slaves to lift up their heads, straighten their backs, +and throw off the yoke; and he led them forth with songs of +victory and shouts of triumph from under the mailed hand and iron +bondage of Pharaoh. He fired them with a national spirit, and +welded and organised them into a distinct and compact people that +could be hurled with resistless power against the walled cities +and trained warriors of Canaan. + +But what was the secret of David and Moses? Whence the +superiority of these men? David was only a stripling shepherd-boy +when he immortalised himself. What was his secret? To be sure, +Moses was "instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and, +doubtless, had been trained in all the civil, military, and +scientific learning of his day, but he was so weak in himself +that he feared and fled at the first word of questioning and +disparagement that he heard (Exodus ii. 14), and spent the next +forty years feeding sheep for another man in the rugged +wilderness of Sinai. What, then, was his secret? + +Doubtless, they were men cast in a kinglier mould than most men; +but their secret was not in themselves. + +Joseph Parker declared that great lives are built on great +promises, and so they are. These men had so far humbled +themselves that they found God. They got close to Him, and He +spoke to them. He gave them promises. He revealed His way and +truth to them, and trusting Him, believing His promises, and +fashioning their lives according to His truth--His doctrine-- +everything else followed. They became "workers together with +God," heroes of faith, leaders of men, builders of empire, +teachers of the race, and, in an important sense, saviours of +mankind. + +Their secret is an open one; it is the secret of every truly +successful spiritual leader from then till now, and there is no +other way to success in spiritual leadership. + +1. They had an _experience_. They _knew God_. + +2. This experience, this acquaintance with God, was +_maintained_ and deepened and broadened in obedience to +God's teaching, or truth, or doctrine. + +3. They patiently yet urgently _taught others_ what they +themselves had learned, and declared, so far as they saw it, the +whole counsel of God. + +They were abreast of the deepest experiences and fullest +revelations God had yet made to men. They were leaders, not +laggards. They were not in the rear of the procession of God's +warriors and saints; they were in the forefront. + +Here we discover the importance of the doctrine and experience of +holiness through the baptism of the Holy Spirit to Salvation Army +leaders. We are to know God and glorify Him and reveal Him to +men. We are to finish the work of Jesus, and "fill up that which +is behind of the sufferings of Christ" (Col. i. 24). We are to +rescue the slaves of sin, to make a people, to fashion them into +a holy nation, and inspire and lead them forth to save the world. +How can we do this? Only by being in the forefront of God's +spiritual hosts; not in name and in titles only, but in reality; +by being in glad possession of the deepest experiences God gives, +and the fullest revelations He makes to men. + +The astonishing military and naval successes of the Japanese are +said to be due to their profound study, clear understanding, and +firm grasp of the theory, the principles, the doctrines of war; +their careful and minute preparation of every detail of their +campaigns; the scientific accuracy and precision with which they +carry out all their plans, and their splendid and utter personal +devotion to their cause. + +Our war is far more complex and desperate than theirs, and its +issues are infinitely more far-reaching, and we must equip +ourselves for it; and nothing is so vital to our cause as a +mastery of the doctrine and an assured and joyous possession of +the Pentecostal experience of holiness through the indwelling +Spirit. + +I. _The Doctrine._--What is the teaching of God's word about +holiness? + +1. If we carefully study God's word, we find that He wants His +people to be holy, and the making of a holy people, after the +pattern of Jesus, is the crowning work of the Holy Spirit. He +commands us to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the +flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord" (2 +Cor. vii. 1). It is prayed that we may "increase and abound in +love one toward another, and toward all men... to the end He may +stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God" (1 +Thess. iii. 12, 13). He says: "As He which hath called you is +holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is +written, Be ye holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter i. 15, 16). And in +the most earnest manner we are exhorted to "follow peace with all +men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" +(Hebrews xii. 14). + +2. As we further study the word, we discover that holiness is +more than simple freedom from condemnation for wrong-doing. A +helpless invalid lying on his bed of sickness, unable to do +anything wrong, may be free from the condemnation of actual +wrong-doing, and yet it may be in his heart to do all manner of +evil. Holiness on its negative side is a state of heart purity; +it is heart cleanness--cleanness of thought and temper and +disposition, cleanness of intention and purpose and wish; it is a +state of freedom from all sin, both inward and outward (Romans +vi. 18). On the positive side it is a state of union with God in +Christ, in which the whole man becomes a temple of God and filled +with the fruit of the Spirit, which is "love, joy, peace, long- +suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." It +is moral and spiritual sympathy and harmony with God in the +holiness of His nature. + +We must not, however, confound purity with maturity. Purity is a +matter of the heart, and is secured by an instantaneous act of +the Holy Spirit; maturity is largely a matter of the head and +results from growth in knowledge and experience. In one, the +heart is made clean, and is filled with love; in the other, the +head is gradually corrected and filled with light, and so the +heart is enlarged and more firmly established in faith; +consequently, the experience deepens and becomes stronger and +more robust in every way. It is for this reason that we need +teachers after we are sanctified, and to this end we are exhorted +to humbleness of mind. + +Importance of the Doctrine. + +With a heart full of sympathy and love for his father my little +boy may voluntarily go into the garden to weed the vegetables; +but, being yet ignorant, lacking light in his head, he pulls up +my sweet corn with the grass and weeds. His little heart glows +with pleasure and pride in the thought that he is "helping papa," +and yet he is doing the very thing I don't want him to do. But if +I am a wise and patient father, I shall be pleased with him; for +what is the loss of my few stalks of corn compared to the +expression and development of his love and loyalty? And I shall +commend him for the love and faithful purpose of his little +heart, while I patiently set to work to enlighten the darkness of +his little head. His heart is pure toward his father, but he is +not yet mature. In this matter of light and maturity holy people +often widely differ, and this causes much perplexity and needless +and unwise anxiety. In the fourteenth chapter of Romans, Paul +discusses and illustrates the principle underlying this +distinction between purity and maturity. + +3. As we continue to study the word under the illumination of the +Spirit, who is given to lead us into all truth, we further learn +that holiness is not a state which we reach in conversion. The +Apostles were converted, they had forsaken all to follow Jesus +(Matthew xix. 27-29), their names were written in Heaven (Luke x. +20), and yet they were not holy. They doubted and feared, and +again and again were they rebuked for the slowness and littleness +of their faith. They were bigoted, and wanted to call down fire +from Heaven to consume those who would not receive Jesus (Luke +ix. 51-56); they were frequently contending among themselves as +to which should be the greatest, and when the supreme test came +they all forsook Him and fled. Certainly, they were not only +afflicted with darkness in their heads, but, far worse, carnality +in their hearts; they were His, and they were very dear to Him, +but they were not yet holy, they were yet impure of heart. + +Paul makes this point very clear in his Epistle to the +Corinthians. He tells them plainly that they were yet only babes +in Christ, because they were carnal and contentious (I Cor. iii. +I). They were in Christ, they had been converted, but they were +not holy. + +It is of great importance that we keep this truth well in mind +that men may be truly converted, may be babes in Christ, and yet +not be pure in heart; we shall then sympathise more fully with +them, and see the more clearly how to help them and guide their +feet into the way of holiness and peace. + +Those who hold that we are sanctified wholly in conversion will +meet with much to perplex them in their converts, and are not +intelligently equipped to bless and help God's little children. + +4. A continued study of God's teaching on this subject will +clearly reveal to us that purity of heart is obtained after we +are converted. Peter makes this very plain in his address to the +Council in Jersualem, where he recounts the outpouring of the +Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his household. After mentioning +the gift of the Holy Ghost, he adds, "and put no difference +between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts xv. +9). Among other things, then, the baptism of the Holy Ghost +purifies the heart; but the disciples were converted before they +received this Pentecostal experience, so we see that heart +purity, or holiness, is a work wrought in us after conversion. + +Again, we notice that Peter says, "purifying their hearts by +faith." If it is by faith, then it is not by growth, nor by +works, nor by death, nor by purgatory after death. It is God's +work. He purifies the heart, and He does it for those, and only +those who, devoting all their possessions and powers to Him, seek +Him by simple, prayerful, obedient, expectant, unwavering faith +through His Son our Saviour. + +Unless we grasp these truths, and hold them firmly, we shall not +be able to "rightly divide the word of truth," we shall hardly be +"workmen that need not be ashamed, approved unto God" (2 Tim. ii. +15). Some one has written that "the searcher in science knows +that if he but stumble in his hypothesis--that if he but let +himself be betrayed into prejudice or undue leaning toward a pet +theory, or anything but absolute uprightness of mind--his whole +work will be stultified and he will fail ignominiously. To get +anywhere in science he must follow truth with absolute rectitude." + +THE HOLY SPIRIT. + +And is there not a science of salvation, of holiness, of eternal +life, that requires the same absolute loyalty to "the Spirit of +Truth"? How infinitely important, then, that we know what that +truth is, that we may understand and hold that doctrine. + +A friend of mine who finished his course with joy, and was called +into the presence of his Lord to receive his crown some time ago, +has pointed out some mistakes which we must carefully avoid. Here +they are:-- + +"It is a great mistake to substitute repentance for Bible +consecration. The people whom Paul exhorted to full sanctification +were those who had turned from their idols to serve the living +and true God, and to wait for His Son sent down from Heaven +(I Thess. i. 9, 10; iii. 10-13; v. 23). + +"Only people who are citizens of His kingdom can claim His +sanctifying power. Those who still have idols to renounce may be +candidates for conversion, but not for the baptism with the Holy +Ghost and fire. + +"It is a mistake in consecration to suppose that the person +making it has anything of his own to give. We are not our own, +but we are bought with a price, and consecration is simply taking +our hands off from God's property. To wilfully withhold anything +from God is to be a God-robber. + +"It is a mistake to substitute a mere mental assent to God's +proprietorship and right to all we have, while withholding +complete devotion to Him. This is theoretical consecration--a +rock on which we fear multitudes are being wrecked. Consecration +which does not embrace the crucifixion of self and the funeral of +all false ambitions is not the kind which will bring the Holy +Fire. A consecration is imperfect which does not embrace the +speaking faculty" (the tongue), "and the believing faculty" (the +heart), "the imagination, and every power of mind, soul, and +body, and give all absolutely and for ever into the hands of +Jesus, turning a deaf ear to every opposing voice. + +"Reader, have you made such a consecration as this? It must +embrace all this, or it will prove a bed of quicksand to sink +your soul, instead of a full salvation balloon, which will safely +bear you above the fog and malaria and turmoil of the world, +where you can triumphantly sing: + + "'I rise to float in realms of light, + Above the world and sin. + With heart made pure and garments white, + And Christ enthroned within.' + +"It is a mistake to teach seekers to 'only believe,' without +complete abandonment to God at every point, for they can no more +do it than an anchored ship can sail. + +"It is a mistake to substitute mere verbal assent for obedient +trust. 'Only believe' is a fatal snare to all who fall into these +traps. + +"It is a mistake to believe that the altar sanctifies the gift +without the assurance that all is on the altar. If even the end +of your tongue, or one cent of your money, or a straw's weight of +false ambition, or spirit of dictation, or one ounce of your +reputation, or will, or believing powers be left off the altar, +you can no more believe than a bird without wings can fly. + +"'Only believe' is only for those seekers of holiness who are +truly converted, fully consecrated, and crucified to everything +but the whole will of God. Teachers who apply this to people who +have not yet reached these stations need themselves to be taught. +All who have reached them may believe, and if they do believe, +may look God in the face, and triumphantly sing: + + "'The blood, the blood is all my plea, + Hallelujah, for it cleanseth me.'" + +II. _The Experience_.--Simply to be skilled in the doctrine +is not sufficient for us as leaders. We may be as orthodox as St. +Paul himself, and yet be only as "sounding brass and clanging +cymbals," unless we are rooted in the blessed experience of +holiness. If we would save ourselves and them that follow us, if +we would make havoc of the Devil's kingdom and build up God's +kingdom, we must not only know and preach the truth, but we must +be living examples of the saving and sanctifying power of the +truth. We are to be "living epistles, known and read of all men"; +we must be able to say with Paul, "follow me as I follow Christ"; +and "those things which ye learned and received and heard and saw +in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you." + +We must not forget that-- + +1. We are ourselves simple Christians, individual souls +struggling for eternal life and liberty, and we must by all means +save ourselves. To this end we must be holy, else we shall at +last experience the awful woe of those who, having preached to +others, are yet themselves castaways. + +2. We are leaders upon whom multitudes depend. It is a joy and an +honour to be a leader, but it is also a grave responsibility. +James says: "We shall receive the heavier judgment" (James iii. +i, R.V.). How unspeakable shall be our blessedness, and how vast +our reward, if, wise in the doctrine, and rich and strong and +clean in the experience of holiness, we lead our people into +their full heritage in Jesus! But how terrible shall be our +condemnation, and how great our loss, if, in spiritual slothfulness +and unbelief, we stop short of the experience ourselves and leave +them to perish for want of the gushing waters and heavenly food +and Divine direction we should have brought them! We need the +experience for ourselves, and we need it for our work and for our +people. + +What the roof is to a house, that the doctrine is to our system +of truth. It completes it. What sound and robust health is to our +bodies, that the experience is to our souls. It makes us every +whit whole, and fits us for all duty. Sweep away the doctrine, +and the experience will soon be lost. Lose the experience, and +the doctrine will surely be neglected, if not attacked and +denied. No man can have the heart, even if he has the head, to +fully and faithfully and constantly preach the doctrine unless he +has the experience. + +Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and as this doctrine +deals with the deepest things of the Spirit, it is only clearly +understood and is best recommended, explained, defended, and +enforced by those who have the experience. + +Without the experience, the presentation of the doctrine will be +faulty and cold and lifeless, or weak and vacillating, or harsh +and sharp and severe. With the experience, the preaching of the +doctrine will be with great joy and assurance, and will be strong +and searching, but at the same time warm and persuasive and +tender. + +I shall never forget the shock of mingled surprise and amusement +and grief with which I heard a Captain loudly announce in one of +my meetings many years ago that he was "going to preach holiness +now," and his people "have to get it," if he had to "ram it down +their throats." Poor fellow! He did not possess the experience +himself, and never pressed into it and soon forsook his people. + +A man in the clear experience of the blessing will never think of +"ramming" it down people; but will, with much secret prayer, +constant meditation and study, patient instruction, faithful +warning, loving persuasion, and burning, joyful testimony, seek +to lead them into that entire and glad consecration and that +fullness of faith that never fail to receive the blessing. + +Again, the most accurate and complete knowledge of the doctrine, +and the fullest possession of the experience, will fail us at +last unless we carefully guard ourselves at several points, and +unless we watch and pray. + +3. We must not judge ourselves so much by our feelings as by our +volitions. It is not my feelings, but the purpose of my heart, +the attitude of my will, that God looks at, and it is that to +which I must look. "If our heart condemns us not, then have we +confidence toward God." A friend of mine who had firmly grasped +this thought, and walked continually with God, used to testify: +"I am just as good when I don't feel good as when I do feel +good." Another mighty man of God said that all the feeling he +needed to enable him to trust God was the consciousness that he +was fully submitted to all the known will of God. + +We must not forget that the Devil is "the accuser of the +brethren" (Rev. xii. 10), and that he seeks to turn our eyes away +from Jesus, who is our Surety and our Advocate, to ourselves, our +feelings, our infirmities, our failures; and if he succeeds in +this, gloom will fill us, doubts and fears will spring up within +us, and we shall soon fail and fall. We must be wise as the +conies, and build our nest in the cleft of the Rock of Ages. +Hallelujah! + +4. We must not divorce conduct from character, or works from +faith. Our lives must square with our teaching. We must live what +we preach. We must not suppose that faith in Jesus excuses us +from patient, faithful, laborious service. We must "live by every +word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"; that is, we must +fashion our lives, our conduct, our conversation by the +principles laid down in His word, remembering His searching +saying, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall +enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of +My Father which is in Heaven." + +This subject of faith and works is very fully discussed by James +(chap. ii. 14-26), and Paul is very clear in his teaching that, +while God saves us not by our works, but by His mercy through +faith, yet it is that we may "maintain good work" (Titus iii. +14); and "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto +good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in +them" (Eph. ii. 8-10). + +Faith must "work by love," and emotion must be transmitted into +action, and joy must lead to work, and love to faithful, self- +sacrificing service, else they become a kind of pleasant and +respectable, but none the less deadly, debauchery, and at last +ruin us. + +5. However blessed and satisfactory our present experience may +be, we must not rest in it, but remember that our Lord has yet +many things to say unto us, as we are able to receive them. We +must stir up the gift of God that is in us, and say with Paul, +"One thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and +stretching forward" (as a racer) "to the things which are before, +I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of +God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. iii. 13, 14, R.V.). It is at this +point that many fail. They seek the Lord, they weep and struggle +and pray, and then they believe; but, instead of pressing on, +they sit down to enjoy the blessing, and, lo! it is not. The +children of Israel must needs follow the pillar of cloud and +fire. It made no difference when it moved--by day or by night, +they followed; and when the Comforter comes we must follow, if we +would abide in Him and be filled with all the fullness of God. +And, Oh, the joy of following Him! + +Finally, if we have the blessing--not the harsh, narrow, +unprogressive exclusiveness which often calls itself by the +sweet, heavenly term of holiness, but the vigorous, courageous, +self-sacrificing, tender, Pentecostal experience of perfect love +--we shall both save ourselves and enlighten the world, our +converts will be strong, our Candidates for the work will +multiply, and will be able, dare-devil men and women, and our +people will come to be like the brethren of Gideon, of whom it +was said, "Each one resembled the children of a king." + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + +XXIII. + +VICTORY OVER EVIL TEMPER BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. + + +"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon +you." + +Two letters recently reached me, one from Oregon, and one from +Massachusetts, inquiring if I thought it possible to have temper +destroyed. The comrade from Oregon wrote: "I have been wondering +if the statement is correct when one says, 'My temper is all +taken away.' Do you think the temper is destroyed or sanctified? +It seems to me that if one's temper were actually gone he would +not be good for anything." + +The comrade from Massachusetts wrote: "Two of our Corps Cadets +have had the question put to them: 'Is it possible to have all +temper taken out of our hearts?' One claims it is possible. The +other holds that the temper is not taken out, but God gives power +to overcome it." + +Evidently these are questions that perplex many people, and yet +the answer seems to me simple. + +Temper, _as usually spoken of_, is not a faculty or power of +the soul, but is rather an irregular, passionate, violent +expression of selfishness. When selfishness is destroyed by love, +by the incoming of the Holy Spirit, revealing Jesus to us as an +uttermost Saviour, and creating within us a clean heart, of +course such evil temper is gone, just as the friction and +consequent wear and heat of two wheels is gone when the cogs are +perfectly adjusted to each other. The wheels are far better off +without friction, and just so man is far better off without such +temper. + +We do not destroy the wheels to get rid of the friction, but we +readjust them; that is, we put them into just or right relations +to each other, and then noiselessly and perfectly they do their +work. So, strictly speaking, sanctification does not destroy +self, but it destroys selfishness--the abnormal and mean and dis- +ordered manifestation and assertion of self. I myself am to be +sanctified, rectified, purified, brought into harmony with God's +will as revealed in His word, and united to Him in Jesus, so that +His life of holiness and love flows continually through all the +avenues of my being, as the sap of the vine flows through all +parts of the branch. "I am the Vine, ye are the branches," said +Jesus. + +When a man is thus filled with the Holy Spirit he is not made +into a putty man, a jelly fish, with all powers of resistance +taken out of him; he does not have any less force and "push" and +"go" than before, but rather more, for all his natural energy is +now reinforced by the Holy Spirit, and turned into channels of +love and peace instead of hate and strife. + +He may still feel indignation in the presence of wrong, but it +will not be rash, violent, explosive, and selfish, as before he +was sanctified, but calm and orderly, and holy, and determined, +like that of God. It will be the wholesome, natural antagonism of +holiness and righteousness to all unrighteousness and evil. + +Such a man will feel it when he is wronged, but it will be much +in the same way that he feels when others are wronged. The +personal, selfish element will be absent. At the same time there +will be pity and compassion and yearning love for the wrong-doer +and a greater desire to see him saved than to see him punished. + +A sanctified man was walking down the street the other day with +his wife, when a filthy fellow on a passing wagon insulted her +with foul words. Instantly the temptation came to the man to want +to get hold of him and punish him, but as instantly the +indwelling Comforter whispered, "If ye will forgive men their +trespasses;" and instantly the clean heart of the man responded, +"I will, I do forgive him, Lord;" and instead of anger a great +love filled his soul, and instead of hurling a brick or hot words +at the poor Devil-deceived sinner, he sent a prayer to God in +Heaven for him. There was no friction in his soul. He was +perfectly adjusted to his Lord; his heart was perfectly +responsive to his Master's word, and he could rightly say, "My +temper is gone." + +A man must have his spiritual eyes wide open to discern the +difference between sinful temper and righteous indignation. + +Many a man wrongs and robs himself by calling his fits of temper +"righteous indignation;" while, on the other hand, there is here +and there a timid soul who is so afraid of sinning through temper +as to suppress the wholesome antagonism that righteousness, to be +healthy and perfect, must express towards all unrighteousness and +sin. + +It takes the keen-edged word of God, applied by the Holy Spirit, +to cut away unholy temper without destroying righteous antagonism; +to enable a man to hate and fight sin with spiritual weapons +(2 Cor. x. 3-5), while pitying and loving the sinner; to so fill +him with the mind of Jesus that he will feel as badly over a wrong +done to a stranger as though it were done to himself; to help him +to put away the personal feeling and be as calm and unselfish and +judicial in opposing wrong as is the judge upon the bench. Into +this state of heart and mind is one brought who is entirely +sanctified by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Hallelujah! + +Dr. Asa Mahan, the friend and co-worker of Finney, had a quick +and violent temper in his youth and young manhood; but one day he +believed, and God sanctified him, and for fifty years he said he +never felt but one uprising of temper, and that was but for an +instant, about five years after he received the blessing. For the +following forty-five years, though subjected to many trials and +provocations, he felt only love and peace and patience and good- +will in his heart. + +A Christian woman was confined to her bed for years with nervous +and other troubles, and was very cross and touchy and petulant. +At last she became convinced that the Lord had a better +experience for her, and she began to pray for a clean heart full +of patient, holy, humble love; and she prayed so earnestly, so +violently, that her family became alarmed lest she should wear +her poor, frail body out in her struggle for spiritual freedom. +But she told them she was determined to have the blessing, if it +cost her her life, and so she continued to pray, until one glad, +sweet day the Comforter came; her heart was purified, and from +that day forth, in spite of the fact that she was still a nervous +invalid, suffering constant pain, she never showed the least sign +of temper or impatience, but was full of meekness, and patient, +joyous thankfulness. + + "Love took up the harp of life, and smote on all + the chords with might-- + Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, passed in + music out of sight." + +Such is the experience of one in whom Jesus lives without a +rival, and in whom grace has wrought its perfect work. + +"No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed of gold, not +drunkenness itself, does more to un-Christianise society than +evil temper," says a distinguished and thoughtful writer. + +If this be true, it must be God's will that we be saved from it. +And it is provided for in the uttermost salvation that Jesus +offers. + +Do you want this blessing, my brother, my sister? If so, be sure +of this: God has not begotten such a desire in your heart to mock +you; you may have it. God is able to do even this for you. With +man it is impossible, but not with God. Look at Him just now for +it. It is His work, His gift. Look at your past failures, and +acknowledge them; look at your present and future difficulties, +count them up and face them every one, and admit that they are +more than you can hope to conquer; but then look at the dying Son +of God, your Saviour--the Man with the seamless robe, the crown +of thorns, and the nail-prints; look at the fountain of His +Blood; look at His word; look at the Almighty Holy Ghost, who +will dwell within you, if you but trust and obey, and cry out: +"It shall be done! The mountain shall become a plain; the +impossible shall become possible. Hallelujah!" Quietly, +intelligently, abandon yourself to the Holy Spirit just now in +simple, glad, obedient faith, and the blessing shall be yours. +Glory to God! + +"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?" + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's When the Holy Ghost is Come, by Col. S. L. Brengle + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME *** + +This file should be named whlgh10.txt or whlgh10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, whlgh11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, whlgh10a.txt + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/whlgh10.zip b/old/whlgh10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..97142d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/whlgh10.zip diff --git a/old/whlgh10h.htm b/old/whlgh10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b952c44 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/whlgh10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6975 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> + +<head> +<title>WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME.</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + h1,h2,h3,h4 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold } + h1 { margin-top: 2em } + p.smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + --> +</style> +</head> + +<body> +<pre> +Project Gutenberg's When the Holy Ghost is Come, by Col. S. L. Brengle + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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Brengle + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6135] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 17, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +</pre> +<h1>WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME.</h1> + +<p align='center'>BY</p> + +<h2>COLONEL S. L. BRENGLE,</h2> + +<h3>Edited by BRAMWELL BOOTH.</h3> + +<a name="foreword"></a> +<h1>Foreword.</h1> + +<p>The Salvation Army, contrary to what has often been +thought by +surface observers, has owed its existence, its strength, +and its +success chiefly to our careful attention to the profoundest<br> +questions of the soul.</p> + +<p>And still, as always, we wish to urge upon all the +study of those +great practical truths, without the proclamation of +which our +work for men would cease to have any abiding value. +We glory in +the knowledge of Christ as a perfect Saviour just +as much for +this, our own time, as for any past generation, or +for any +generation yet to come. The pretence that this age +has reached +some superior development, whether mental or moral, +for which a +new kind of Saviour is needed, seems to us absurd. +And we do not +believe it can long endure where Christ is really +known.</p> + +<p>To the most thoughtful, therefore, as well as to those +who have +the least time for thought, I earnestly commend the +words of +devout and practical men upon those great questions, +which I hope +to see reproduced in the series of which the present +volume is +the first. Prayerful reading of their messages cannot +but lead to +immediate action, to a complete self-abandonment to +God, and to a +realizing faith in His power to use every one of His +sons and +daughters for the healing of the world’s open +sores and the +triumph of His Rule.</p> + +<p>BRAMWELL BOOTH. LONDON, January, 1909.</p> + +<h1>Contents.</h1> + +<p><a href="#foreword">Foreword</a></p> +<p><a href="#preface">Preface</a></p> + +<ol style="list-style-type: upper-roman"> +<li><a href="#chapter1">Who Is He?</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter2">Preparing His House</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter3">Is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit a Third Blessing?</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter4">The Witness of the Spirit</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter5">Purity</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter6">Power</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter7">Trying the Spirits</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter8">Guidance</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter9">The Meek and Lowly Heart</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter10">Hope</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter11">The Holy Spirit’s Substitute for Gossip and Evil-Speaking</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter12">The Sin Against the Holy Ghost</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter13">Offences Against the Holy Ghost</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter14">The Holy Spirit and Sound Doctrine</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter15">Praying in the Spirit</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter16">Characteristics of the Anointed Preacher</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter17">Preaching</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter18">The Sheathed Sword: A Law of the Spirit</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter19">Vicotry through the Holy Spirit Over Suffering</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter20">The Overflowing Blessing</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter21">Importance of the Doctrine and Experience of Holiness to Spiritual Leaders</a></li> +<li><a href="#chapter22">Victory Over Evil Temper by the Power of the Holy Spirit</a></li> +</ol> + +<a name="preface"></a> +<h1>Preface.</h1> + +<p>It is no small pleasure to me to commend this book +to all who love God, and in particular to those who +are labouring to serve Him in the ranks of The Salvation +Army. I believe that it will prove useful in the most +important ways—­in its bearing, that is, +upon many of the practical difficulties and problems +of daily life.</p> + +<p>The writer, Colonel Brengle, gives us not only of +the fruit of an orderly and well-stored mind on the +great subject before us, but—­ and this +is the more important—­he tells us of the +actual work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of ordinary +men and women, as he has witnessed the results of +that work amidst his many labours for the Salvation +and Holiness of the people. It is for them he writes. +It is to them, living the common life, bound to others +by the obligations of ordinary social intercourse, +toiling at their secular occupations, and rubbing +shoulders with the multitude in the market-place, +that his message comes. I venture to hope that his +words will make it plain to some of them that the highest +intercourse with the Divine is their privilege; that +the special province of the Holy Ghost is to lead +men into the truest devotion to God, and to the advancement +of His Kingdom on earth, even while they are carrying +on the common avocations associated with earning their +daily bread.</p> + +<p>The only purpose of God having a practical bearing +on our lives is His purpose to save men from sin and +its awful consequences, and make them conform to His +will in this world as in the next. The work of the +Holy Spirit is to help us to achieve that purpose. +Without His help we are unable to overcome the difficulties +that are in the way, whether we consider them from +the standpoint of the world or of the individual. If +anyone could have looked at the state of the world +at the time of our Lord’s death he would surely +have regarded the work which the Apostles were commissioned +to attempt as the most utterly wild and impracticable +enterprise that the human mind could conceive. And +it was so, but for one fact. That fact was the promise +of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be the great +Helper in the undertaking.</p> + +<p>And equally in the work of uniting the individual +soul with God’s purpose that Spirit is our Helper. +In the work of righteousness He is a Partner with +us. In the life of faith and prayer He is our unwavering +Prompter and Guide. In the submission of our wills +to God and the chastening of our spirits He is the +great Co-worker with us. In the bearing of burdens +and the enduring of trial and sorrow He joins hands +with us to lead us on. In the purifying of every power +from the taint of sin He is our Sanctifier.</p> + +<p>All this is practical. It has to do with to-day—­with +every bit of to-day. In fact, so far from the sphere +of the Holy Spirit being limited to the pulpit or +the platform, or to the inward experiences of the +religious life, He is just as truly and properly concerned +with the affairs of the shop and the street, the nursery +and the kitchen, the chamber of suffering and the +home of penury, as with preaching the Gospel or healing +the sick.</p> + +<p>Now it is to lead its readers to a personal experience +of all this that this book has been written. No mere +intellectual assent to the truth it sets forth can +satisfy its author, any more than it can benefit his +readers. What he seeks, and what I join him in devoutly +asking of God, is that you, dear friend, who may take +this little volume into your hands, may see what an +infinite privilege is yours, and may begin to act +with God the Holy Ghost, and to open your whole being +to Him, that He may work with you.</p> + +<p><i>Bramwell Booth</i>.<br> +<i>London</i>, January, 1909.</p> + +<a name="chapter1"></a> +<h1>I.</h1> + +<h2>Who Is He?</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>On that last eventful evening in the upper room, just +after the Passover feast, Jesus spoke to His disciples +about His departure, and, having commanded them to +love one another, He besought them not to be troubled +in heart, but to hold fast their faith in Him, assuring +them that, though He was to die and leave them, He +was but going to the Father’s many-mansioned +house to prepare a place for them.</p> + +<p>But already they were troubled, for what could this +death and departure mean but the destruction of all +their hopes, of all their cherished plans? Jesus had +drawn them away from their fishing-boats, their places +of custom and daily employment, and inspired them +with high personal and patriotic ambitions, and encouraged +them to believe that He was the Seed of David, the +promised Messiah; and they hoped that He would cast +out Pilate and his hated Roman garrison, restore the +kingdom to Israel, and sit on David’s throne, +a King, reigning in righteousness and undisputed power +and majesty for ever. And then, were they not to be +His Ministers of State and chief men in His Kingdom?</p> + +<p>He was their Leader, directing their labours; their +Teacher, instructing their ignorance and solving their +doubts and all their puzzling problems; their Defence, +stilling the stormy sea and answering for them when +questioned by wise and wily enemies.</p> + +<p>They were poor and unlearned and weak. In Him was +all their help, and what would they do, what could +they do, without Him? They were without social standing, +without financial prestige, without learning or intellectual +equipment, without political or military power. He +was their All, and without Him they were as helpless +as little children, as defenceless as lambs in the +midst of wolves. How could their poor hearts be otherwise +than troubled?</p> + +<p>But then He gave them a strange, wonderful, reassuring +promise: He said, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments. +And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you +another Comforter, that He may abide with you for +ever” (John xiv. 15, 16). I am going away, but +Another shall come, who will fill My place. He shall +not go away, but abide with you for ever, and He “shall +be in you.” And later He added: “It is +expedient for you"—­that is, better for you-“that +I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will +not come.”</p> + +<p>Who is this other One—­this Comforter? He +must be some august Divine Person, and not a mere +influence or impersonal force, for how else could +He take and fill the place of Jesus? How else could +it be said that it was better to have Him than to have +Jesus remaining in the flesh? He must be strong and +wise, and tender and true, to take the place of the +Blessed One who is to die and depart. Who is He?</p> + +<p>John, writing in the Greek language, calls Him “Paraclete,” +but we in English call Him Comforter. But Paraclete +means more, much more than Comforter. It means “one +called in to help: an advocate, a helper.” The +same word is used of Jesus in i John ii. i: “We +have an Advocate,” a Paraclete, a Helper, “with +the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Just +as Jesus had gone to be the disciples’ Advocate, +their Helper in the Heavens, so this other Paraclete +was to be their Advocate, their Helper on earth. He +would be their Comforter when comfort was needed; but +He would be more; He would be also their Teacher, +Guide, Strengthener, as Jesus had been. At every point +of need there would He be as an ever-present and all-wise, +almighty Helper. He would meet their need with His +sufficiency; their weakness with His strength; their +foolishness with His wisdom; their ignorance with His +knowledge; their blindness and short-sightedness with +His perfect, all-embracing vision. Hallelujah! What +a Comforter! Why should they be troubled?</p> + +<p>They were weak, but He would strengthen them with +might in the inner man (Eph. iii. 16). They were to +give the world the words of Jesus, and teach all nations +(Matthew xxviii. 19, 20); and He would teach them +all things, and bring to their remembrance whatsoever +Jesus had said to them (John xiv. 26).</p> + +<p>They were to guide their converts in the right way, +and He was to guide them into all truth (John xvi. +13). They were to attack hoary systems of evil, and +inbred and actively intrenched sin, in every human +heart; but He was to go before them, preparing the +way for conquest, by convincing the world of sin, of +righteousness, and of judgment (John xvi. 8). They +were to bear heavy burdens and face superhuman tasks, +but He was to give them power (Acts i. 8). Indeed, +He was to be a Comforter, a Strengthener, a Helper.</p> + +<p>Jesus had been external to them. Often they missed +Him. Sometimes He was asleep when they felt they sorely +needed Him. Sometimes He was on the mountains, while +they were in the valley vainly trying to cast out +stubborn devils, or wearily toiling on the tumultuous, +wind-tossed sea. Sometimes He was surrounded by vast +crowds, and He entered into high disputes with the +doctors of the law, and they had to wait till He was +alone to seek explanations of His teachings. But they +were never to lose this other Helper in the crowd, +nor be separated for an instant from Him, for no human +being, nor untoward circumstance, nor physical necessity, +could ever come between Him and them, for, said Jesus, +“He shall be in you.”</p> + +<p>From the words used to declare the sayings, the doings, +the offices and works of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, +we are forced to conclude that He is a Divine Person. +Out of the multitude of Scriptures which might be +quoted, note this passage, which, as nearly as is +possible with human language, reveals to us His personality: +“Now there were in the Church that was at Antioch +certain prophets and teachers... As they ministered +to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate +Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have +called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, +and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. +So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed +into Seleucia” (Acts xiii. 1-4).</p> + +<p>Further on we read that they “were forbidden +of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia”; +and when they would have gone into Bithynia, “the +Spirit suffered them not” (Acts xvi. 6, 7).</p> + +<p>Again, when the messengers of Cornelius, the Roman +centurion, were seeking Peter, “the Spirit said +unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. Arise, therefore, +and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: +for I have sent them” (Acts x. 19, 20).</p> + +<p>These are but a few of the passages of Scripture that +might be quoted to establish the fact of His personality—­His +power to think, to will, to act, to speak; and if +His personality is not made plain in these Scriptures, +then it is impossible for human language to make it +so.</p> + +<p>Indeed, I am persuaded that if an intelligent heathen, +who had never seen the Bible, should for the first +time read the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, +he would say that the personality of the Holy Spirit +is as clearly revealed in the Acts as is the personality +of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. In truth, the Acts +of the Apostles are in a large measure the acts of +the Holy Spirit, and the disciples were not more certainly +under the immediate direction of Jesus during the +three years of His earthly ministry than they were +under the direct leadership of the Spirit after Pentecost.</p> + +<p>But, while there are those that admit His personality, +yet in their loyalty to the Divine Unity they deny +the Trinity, and maintain that the Holy Spirit is +only the Father manifesting Himself as Spirit, without +any distinction in personality. But this view cannot +be harmonised with certain Scriptures. While the Bible +and reason plainly declare that there is but one God, +yet the Scriptures as clearly reveal that there are +three Persons in the Godhead—­Father, Son, +and Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>The form of Paul’s benediction to the Corinthians +proves the doctrine:—–­</p> + +<p>“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the +love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, +be with you all. Amen” (2 Cor. xiii. 14).</p> + +<p>Again, it is taught in the promise of Jesus, already +quoted, “And I will pray the Father, and He +shall give you another Comforter... the Spirit of +Truth” (John xiv. 16, 17). Here the three Persons +of the Godhead are clearly revealed. The Son prays; +the Father answers; the Spirit comes.</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit is “another Comforter,” +a second Comforter succeeding the first, who was Jesus, +and both were given by the Father.</p> + +<p>Do you say, “I cannot understand it”? +Neither do I. Who can understand it? God does not +expect us to understand it. Nor would He have us puzzle +our heads and trouble our hearts in attempting to +understand it or harmonise it with our knowledge of +arithmetic.</p> + +<p>Note this: it is only the <i>fact</i> that is revealed; +<i>how</i> there can be three Persons in one Godhead +is not revealed.</p> + +<p>The <i>how</i> is a mystery, and is not a matter of +faith at all; but the <i>fact</i> is a matter of revelation, +and therefore a matter of faith. I myself am a mysterious +trinity of body, mind, and spirit. The fact I believe, +but the <i>how</i> is not a thing to believe. It is +at this point that many puzzle and perplex themselves +needlessly.</p> + +<p>In the ordinary affairs of life we grasp facts, and +hold them fast, without puzzling ourselves over the +<i>how</i> of things. Who can explain <i>how</i> food +sustains life; how light reveals material objects, +how sound conveys ideas to our minds? It is the fact +we know and believe, but the <i>how</i> we pass by +as a mystery unrevealed. What God has revealed, we +believe. We cannot understand <i>how</i> Jesus turned +water into wine; <i>how</i> He multiplied a few loaves +and fishes and fed thousands; <i>how</i> He stilled +the stormy sea; <i>how</i> He opened blind eyes, healed +lepers, and raised the dead by a word. But the facts +we believe. Wireless telegraphic messages are sent +over the vast wastes of ocean. That is a fact, and +we believe it. But <i>how</i> they go we do not know. +That is not something to believe. It is a matter of +pure speculation, and is unexplained.</p> + +<p>An old servant of God has pointed out that it is the +fact of the Trinity, and not the <i>manner</i> of +it, which God has revealed, and made a subject for +our faith.</p> + +<p>But while the Scriptures reveal to us the fact of +the personality of the Holy Spirit, and it is a subject +for our faith, to those in whom He dwells this fact +may become a matter of sacred knowledge, of blessed +experience.</p> + +<p>How else can we account for the positive and assured +way in which the Apostles and disciples spoke of the +Holy Ghost on and after the day of Pentecost, if they +did not know Him? Immediately after the fiery baptism, +with its blessed filling, Peter stood before the people, +and said: “This is that which was spoken by the +prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last +days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all +flesh”; then he exhorted the people and assured +them that if they would meet certain simple conditions +they should “receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” +He said to Ananias, “Why hath Satan filled thine +heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?” He declared +to the High Priest and Council that he and his fellow-Apostles +were witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus: and added, +“And so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath +given to them that obey Him.” Without any apology +or explanation, or “think so” or “hope +so,” they speak of being “filled” +(not simply with some new, strange experience or emotion, +but) “with the Holy Ghost.” Certainly they +must have known Him. And if they knew Him, may not +we?</p> + +<p>Paul says: “Now we have received, not the spirit +of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that +we might know the things that are freely given to +us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the +words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which +the Holy Ghost teacheth” (I Cor. ii. 12, 13). +And if we know the words, may we not know the Teacher +of the words?</p> + +<p>John Wesley says:—­</p> + +<p>“The knowledge of the Three-One God is interwoven +with all true Christian faith, with all vital religion. +I do not say,” he adds, “that every real +Christian can say, with the Marquis de Renty, ’I +bear about with me continually an experimental verity, +and a fullness of the ever-blessed’Trinity. +I apprehend that this is not the experience of “babes,” +but rather “fathers in Christ."’ But I +know not how anyone can be a Christian believer till +he ‘hath the witness in himself,’ till +’the Spirit of God witnesses with his spirit +that he is a child of God’; that is, in effect, +till God the Holy Ghost witnesses that God the Father +has accepted him through the merits of God the Son.</p> + +<p>“Not that every Christian believer adverts to +this; perhaps, at first, not one in twenty; but, if +you ask them a few questions, you will easily find +it is implied in what he believes.”</p> + +<p>I shall never forget my joy, mingled with awe and +wonder, when this dawned upon my consciousness. For +several weeks I had been searching the Scriptures, +ransacking my heart, humbling my soul, and crying +to God almost day and night for a pure heart and the +baptism with the Holy Ghost, when one glad, sweet day +(it was January 9th, 1885) this text suddenly opened +to my understanding: “If we confess our sins, +He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and +to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”; and +I was enabled to believe without any doubt that the +precious blood cleansed my heart, even mine, from +all sin. Shortly after that, while reading these words +of Jesus to Martha: “I am the resurrection and +the life; he that believeth on Me, though he were +dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth +on Me shall never die,” instantly my heart was +melted like wax before fire; Jesus Christ was revealed +to my spiritual consciousness, revealed in me, and +my soul was filled with unutterable love. I walked +in a heaven of love. Then one day, with amazement, +I said to a friend: “This is the perfect love +about which the Apostle John wrote; but it is beyond +all I dreamed of; in it is personality; this love +thinks, wills, talks with me, corrects me, instructs +and teaches me.” And then I knew that God the +Holy Ghost was in this love, and that this love was +God, for “God is love.”</p> + +<p>Oh, the rapture mingled with reverential, holy fear—­for +it is a rapturous, yet divinely fearful thing—­to +be indwelt by the Holy Ghost, to be a temple of the +Living God! Great heights are always opposite great +depths, and from the heights of this blessed experience +many have plunged into the dark depths of fanaticism. +But we must not draw back from the experience through +fear. All danger will be avoided by meekness and lowliness +of heart; by humble, faithful service; by esteeming +others better than ourselves, and in honour preferring +them before ourselves; by keeping an open, teachable +spirit; in a word, by looking steadily unto Jesus, +to whom the Holy Spirit continually points us: for +He would not have us fix our attention exclusively +upon Himself and His work <i>in</i> us, but also upon +the Crucified One and His work <i>for</i> us, that +we may walk in the steps of Him whose blood purchases +our pardon, and makes and keeps us clean.</p> + +<p> “Great Paraclete! to Thee we cry:<br> + O highest Gift of God most high!<br> + O Fount of life! O Fire of love!<br> + And sweet Anointing from above!</p> + +<p> “Our senses touch with light and +fire;<br> + Our hearts with tender love inspire;<br> + And with endurance from on high<br> + The weakness of our flesh supply.</p> + +<p> “Far back our enemy repel,<br> + And let Thy peace within us dwell;<br> + So may we, having Thee for Guide,<br> + Turn from each hurtful thing aside.</p> + +<p> “Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow<br> + The Father and the Son to know,<br> + And evermore to hold confessed<br> + Thyself of Each the Spirit blest.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter2"></a> +<h1>II.</h1> + +<h2>Preparing His House</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, +Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he +cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is +born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born +of the Spirit is spirit.” And Paul wrote to the +Romans that, “If any man have not the Spirit +of Christ, he is none of His.”</p> + +<p>So it must be that every child of God, every truly +converted person, has the Holy Spirit in some gracious +manner and measure, else he would not be a child of +God; for it is only “as many as are led by the +Spirit of God” that “are the sons of God.”</p> + +<p>It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin, who +makes us feel how good and righteous, and just and +patient God is, and how guilty we are, and how unfit +for Heaven, and how near to Hell. It is the Holy Spirit +who leads us to true repentance and confession and +amendment of life; and when our repentance is complete, +and our surrender is unconditional, it is He who reasons +with us, and calms our fears, and soothes our troubled +hearts, and banishes our darkness, and enables us +to look to Jesus, and believe on Him for the forgiveness +of all our sins and the salvation of our souls. And +when we yield and trust, and are accepted of the Lord, +and are saved by grace, it is He who assures us of +the Father’s favour, and notifies us that we +are saved. “The Spirit Himself beareth witness +with our spirit that we are the children of God.” +He is “the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, +Abba, Father.”</p> + +<p> “And His that gentle voice we hear,<br> + Soft as the breath of even;<br> + That checks each thought, that calms each fear,<br> + And speaks of Heaven.”</p> + +<p>It is He who strengthens the new convert +to fight against and overcome sin, and it is He +who “begets within him a hope of fuller righteousness +through faith in Christ.”</p> + +<p> “And every virtue we possess,<br> + And every victory won,<br> + And every thought of holiness,<br> + Are His alone.”</p> + +<p>Blessed be God for this work of the Holy Spirit within +the heart of every true child of His!</p> + +<p>But, great and gracious as is this work, it is not +the fiery pentecostal baptism with the Spirit which +is promised; it is not the fullness of the Holy Ghost +to which we are exhorted. It is only the clear dawn +of the day, and not the rising of the day-star. This +is only the initial work of the Spirit. It is perfect +of its kind, but it is preparatory to another and fuller +work, about which I wish to write.</p> + +<p>Jesus said to His disciples, concerning the Holy Spirit, +that “the world” (the unsaved, unrepentant) +“cannot receive” Him, “because it +seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him”; because +they resist Him, and will not permit Him to work in +their hearts. And then Jesus added, “but ye +know Him; for He dwelleth with you....” He had +begun His work in them, but there was more to follow, +for Jesus said, “and shall be in you.”</p> + +<p>When a man is building himself a house, he is in and +out of it and round about it. But we do not say he +lives in it until it has been completed. And it is +in that sense that Jesus said, “He dwelleth +with you.” But when the house is finished, the +owner sweeps out all the chips and saw-dust, scrubs +the floor, lays down his carpets, hangs up his pictures, +arranges his furniture, and moves in with his family. +Then he is in the fullest sense within it. He abides +there. Now, it is in that sense that Jesus meant that +the Holy Spirit should be in them. This is fitly expressed +in one of our songs:-</p> + +<p> “Holy Spirit, come, Oh, come!<br> + Let Thy work in me be done!<br> + All that hinders shall be thrown +aside;<br> + Make me fit to be Thy dwelling.”</p> + +<p>Previous to Pentecost He was with them, using the +searching preaching of John the Baptist, and the life, +the words, the example, the sufferings, and the death +and resurrection of Jesus as instruments with which +to fashion their hearts for His indwelling. As the +truth was declared to them in the words of Jesus, +pictured to them in His doings, exemplified in His +daily life, and fulfilled in His death and His rising +from the dead, the Holy Spirit wrought mightily within +them; but He could not yet find perfect rest in their +hearts; therefore He did not yet abide within them.</p> + +<p>They had forsaken all to follow Christ. They had been +commissioned to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick, +to cleanse the lepers, to raise the dead, to cast +out devils. Their names were written in Heaven. They +were not of the world, even as Jesus was not of the +world, for they belonged to Him and to the Father. +They knew the Holy Spirit, for He was with them, working +in them, but not yet living in them, for they were +yet carnal; that is, they were selfish, each seeking +the best place for himself. They disputed among themselves +as to which should be the greatest. They were bigoted, +wanting to call down fire from Heaven to consume those +who would not receive Jesus, and forbidding those +who would not follow them to cast out devils in His +name. They were positive and loud in their professions +of devotion and loyalty to Jesus when alone with Him. +They declared they would die with Him. But they were +fearful, timid, and false to Him when the testing +time came. When the mocking crowd appeared, and danger +was near, they all forsook Him, and fled; while Peter +cursed and swore, and denied that he knew Him.</p> + +<p>But the Holy Spirit did not forsake them. He still +wrought within them, and, no doubt, used their very +mistakes and miserable failures to perfect within +them the spirit of humility and perfect self-abasement +in order that they might safely be exalted. And on +the day of Pentecost His work of preparation was complete, +and He moved in to abide for ever. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>And this experience of theirs before Pentecost is +the common experience of all true converts. Every +child of God knows that the Holy Spirit is with him; +realises that He is working within, striving to set +the house in order. And with many who are properly +taught and gladly obedient, this work is done quickly, +and the heavenly Dove, the Blessed One, takes up his +constant abode within them; the toil and strife with +inbred sin is ended by its destruction, and they enter +at once into the sabbath of full salvation.</p> + +<p>Surely this is possible. The disciples could not receive +the Holy Spirit till Jesus was glorified; because +not until then was the foundation for perfect, intelligent, +unwavering faith laid. But since the day of Pentecost, +He may be received immediately by those who have repented +of all sin, who have believed on Jesus, and been born +again. Some have assured me that they were sanctified +wholly and filled with the Spirit within a few hours +of their conversion. I have no doubt that this was +so with many of the three thousand who were converted +under Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost.</p> + +<p>But often this work is slow, for He can only work +effectually as we work with Him, practising intelligent +and obedient faith. Some days the work prospers and +seems almost complete, and then peace and joy and +comfort abound in the heart; at other times the work +is hindered, and oftentimes almost or quite undone, +by the strivings and stirrings of inbred sin, by fits +of temper, by lightness and frivolity, by neglect +of watchfulness and prayer, and the patient, attentive +study of His word; by worldliness, by unholy ambitions, +by jealousies and envyings, by uncharitable suspicions +and harsh judgments and selfish indulgences, and slowness +to believe.</p> + +<p>“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” +seeks to bring the soul back under the bondage of +sin again, while the Spirit wars against the flesh, +which is “the old man,” “the carnal +mind.” The Spirit seeks to bring every thought +into “captivity to the obedience of Christ,” +to lead the soul to that point of glad, whole-hearted +consecration to its Lord, and that simple, perfect +faith in the merits of His blood which shall enable +Him to cast out “the old man,” destroy +“the carnal mind,” and, making the heart +His temple, enthrone Christ within.</p> + +<p> “Here on earth a temple stands,<br /> + Temple never built with hands;<br /> + There the Lord doth fill the place<br /> + With the glory of His grace.<br /> + Cleansed by Christ’s atoning blood,<br /> + <i>Thou</i> art this fair house of God.<br /> + Thoughts, desires, that enter there,<br /> + Should they not be pure and fair?<br /> + Meet for holy courts and blest,<br /> + Courts of stillness and of rest,<br /> + Where the soul, a priest in white,<br /> + Singeth praises day and night;<br /> + Glory of the love divine,<br /> + Filling all this heart of mine.”</p> + +<p>My brother, my sister, what is your experience just +now? Are you filled with the Spirit? Or is the old +man still warring against Him in your heart? Oh, that +you may receive Him fully by faith just now!</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter3"></a> +<h1>III.</h1> + +<h2>Is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit a Third Blessing?</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>There is much difference of opinion among many of +God’s children as to the time and order of the +baptism with the Holy Spirit, and many who believe +that entire cleansing is subsequent to salvation, +ask if the baptism with the Spirit is not subsequent +to cleansing, and, therefore, a third blessing.</p> + +<p>There are four classes of teachers whose views appear +to differ about this subject. There are:-</p> + +<p>1. Those who emphasise cleansing; who say much of +a clean heart, but little, if anything, about the +fullness of the Holy Spirit and power from on High.</p> + +<p>2. Those who emphasise the baptism with the Holy Ghost +and fullness of the Spirit, but say little or nothing +of cleansing from inbred sin and the destruction of +the carnal mind.</p> + +<p>3. Those who say much of both, but separate them into +two distinct experiences, often widely separated in +time.</p> + +<p>4. Those who teach that the truth is in the union +of the two, and that, while we may separate them in +their order, putting cleansing first, we cannot separate +them as to time, since it is the baptism that cleanses, +just as the darkness vanishes before the flash of +the electric light when the right button is touched; +just as the Augean stables were cleansed, in the fabled +story of Grecian mythology, when Hercules turned in +the floods of the River Arno; the refuse went out +as the rushing waters poured in.</p> + +<p>There are three very blessed portions of Scripture +which show us that this is God’s order, and +two that plainly show us that cleansing and the baptism +are not separate in time.</p> + +<p>In Psalm li. 10 and 12, David prays, “Create +in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit +within me.... Uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” +First the cleansing, then the filling that upholds: +for as it is my spirit within me that upholds my body, +so it is God’s Spirit within that upholds my +soul.</p> + +<p>In Ezekiel xxxvi. 25 and 27, the Lord says, “Then +will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall +be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your +idols, will I cleanse you.... And I will put My Spirit +within you.”</p> + +<p>Here again, the order is first cleansing, then filling.</p> + +<p>In John xvii. 15-26, Jesus prays for His disciples, +and says: “I pray not that Thou shouldst take +them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep +them from the evil.... Sanctify them;... that they +all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in +Thee; that they also may be one in Us;... I in them, +and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one;... +that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be +in them, and I in them.”</p> + +<p>Here, again, it is first sanctification (cleansing, +being made holy), then filling, divine union with +the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>These Scriptures make plain the order of God’s +work, and if we looked at them alone, without diligently +comparing Scripture with Scripture, as God would have +us do, we might perhaps conclude that the cleansing +and filling were as distinct and separate in time +as they are in this order of statement.</p> + +<p>But other Scriptures give us abundant light on that +side of the subject. In Isaiah vi. 1-8, we have the +record of the prophet’s sanctification, and +we notice that the cleansing and the filling were +not separate in time. The cleansing was not <i>before</i> +the baptism, but <i>by</i> the baptism. The “live +coal” was laid upon his mouth, and touched his +lips; and by this fiery baptism his iniquity was taken +away and his sin was purged.</p> + +<p>In Acts x. 44, we read of Peter’s preaching +Jesus to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, and his household; +and “while Peter yet spake these words, the +Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word”; +and in Acts xv. 7-9, at the first Council in Jerusalem, +we have Peter’s rehearsal of the experience of +Cornelius and his household. Peter says: “Men +and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God +made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth +should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And +God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, +giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; +and put no difference between us and them, purifying +their hearts by faith.” Here we see that their +believing, and the sudden descent of the Holy Ghost +with cleansing power into their hearts, constitute +one blessed experience.</p> + +<p>What patient, waiting, expectant faith reckons done, +the baptism with the Holy Ghost actually accomplishes. +Between the act of faith by which a man begins to +reckon himself “dead indeed unto sin, but alive +unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans +vi. 11), and the act of the Holy Spirit, which makes +the reckoning good, there may be an interval of time, +“a little while” (Hebrews x. 37); but +the act and state of steadfastly, patiently, joyously, +perfectly believing, which is man’s part, and +the act of baptising with the Holy Ghost, cleansing +as by fire, which is God’s part, bring about +the one experience of entire sanctification, and must +not and cannot be logically looked upon as two distinct +blessings, any more than the act of the husband and +the act of the wife can be separated in the one experience +of marriage.</p> + +<p>There are two works and two workers: God and man. +Just as my right arm and my left arm work when my +two hands come together, but the union of the two +hands constitute one experience.</p> + +<p>If my left arm acts quickly, my right arm will surely +respond. And so, if the soul, renouncing self and +sin and the world, with ardour of faith in the precious +blood for cleansing, and in the promise of the gift +of the Holy Spirit, draws nigh to God, God will draw +nigh to that soul, and the blessed union will be effected +suddenly: and in that instant, what faith has reckoned +done will be done, the death-stroke will be given to +“the old man,” sin will die, and the heart +will be clean indeed, and wholly alive toward God +through our Lord Jesus Christ. It will not be a mere +“make-believe” experience, but a gloriously +real one.</p> + +<p>It is possible that some have been led into confusion +of thought on this subject by not considering all +the Scriptures bearing on it. What is it that cleanses +or sanctifies, and how? Jesus prays: “Sanctify +them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” Here +it is the word, or truth, that sanctifies.</p> + +<p>John says: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son +cleanseth us from all sin.” Here it is the blood.</p> + +<p>Peter says: “God...put no difference between +us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.” +And Paul says: “That they may receive forgiveness +of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified +by faith.” Here it is by faith.</p> + +<p>Again, Paul writes: “God hath from the beginning +chosen you to salvation through sanctification of +the Spirit” (2 Thess. ii. 13). And again, “That +the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, +being sanctified by the Holy Ghost” (Romans xv. +16). And Peter writes: “To the strangers... +elect... through sanctification of the Spirit” +(1 Peter i. I, 2). Here it is the Spirit that sanctifies +or makes clean and holy.</p> + +<p>Is there, then, confusion here? Jesus says, “the +truth”; John says, “the blood”; +Paul and Peter say, “faith,” and “the +Holy Ghost.” Can these be reconciled? Let us +see.</p> + +<p>Here is a child in a burning house. A man at the peril +of his life rushes to the spot above which the child +stands in awful danger, and cries out, “Jump, +and I will catch you!”</p> + +<p>The child hears, believes, leaps, and the man receives +him; but just as he turns and places the boy in safety, +a falling timber smites him to the ground wounded +to death, and his flowing blood sprinkles the boy +whom he has saved.</p> + +<p>A breathless spectator says: “The child’s +faith saved him.” Another says: “How quick +the lad was! His courageous leap saved him.” +Another says: “Bless the child! He was in awful +danger, and he just barely saved himself.” Another +says: “That man’s word just reached the +boy’s ear in the nick of time, and saved him.” +Another says: “God bless that man! He saved that +child.” And yet another says: “That boy +was saved by blood; by the sacrifice of that heroic +man!”</p> + +<p>Now, what saved the child? Without the man’s +presence and promise there would have been no faith; +and without faith there would have been no saving +action, and the boy would have perished. The man’s +word saved him by inspiring faith. Faith saved him +by leading to proper action. He saved himself by leaping. +The man saved him by sacrificing his own life in order +to catch him when he leaped out.</p> + +<p>Not the child himself alone, nor his faith, nor his +brave leap, nor his rescuer’s word, nor his +blood, nor the man himself saved the boy, but they +all together saved him; and the boy was not saved +till he was in the arms of the man.</p> + +<p>And so it is faith and works, and the word and the +blood and the Holy Ghost that sanctify.</p> + +<p>The blood, the sacrifice of Christ, underlies all, +and is the meritorious cause of every blessing we +receive, but the Holy Spirit is the active Agent by +whom the merits of the blood are applied to our needs.</p> + +<p>During the American Civil War certain men committed +some dastardly and unlawful deeds, and were sentenced +to be shot. On the day of the execution they stood +in a row confronted by soldiers with loaded muskets, +waiting the command to fire. Just before the command +was given, the commanding officer felt a touch on +his elbow, and, turning, saw a young man by his side, +who said, “Sir, there in that row, waiting to +be shot, is a married man. He has a wife and children. +He is their bread-winner. If you shoot him, he will +be sorely missed. <i>Let me take his place.</i>”</p> + +<p>“All right,” said the officer; “take +his place, if you wish; but you will be shot.”</p> + +<p>“I quite understand that,” replied the +young man; “but no one will miss me”; +and, going to the condemned man, he pushed him aside, +and took his place.</p> + +<p>Soon the command to fire was given. The volley rang +out, and the young hero dropped dead with a bullet +through his heart, while the other man went free.</p> + +<p>His freedom came to him by blood. Had he, however, +neglected the great salvation, and, despising the +blood shed for him, and refusing the sacrifice of +the friend and the righteous claims of the law, persisted +in the same evil ways, he, too, would have been shot. +The blood, though shed for him, would not have availed +to set him free. But he accepted the sacrifice, submitted +to the law, and went home to his wife and children; +but it was by the blood; every breath he henceforth +drew, every throb of his heart, every blessing he +enjoyed, or possibly could enjoy, came to him by the +blood. He owed everything from that day forth to the +blood, and every fleeting moment, every passing day, +and every rolling year but increased his debt to the +blood which had been shed for him.</p> + +<p>And so we owe all to the blood of Christ, for we were +under sentence of death—­"The soul that +sinneth it shall die”; and we have all sinned, +and God, to be holy, must frown upon sin, and utterly +condemn it, and must execute His sentence against it.</p> + +<p>But Jesus suffered for our sins. He died for us. “He +was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised +for our iniquities;... and with His stripes we are +healed.” “Ye know that ye were not redeemed +with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but +with the precious blood of Christ” (i Peter +i. 18, 19); “Who loved me, and gave Himself +for me” (Gal. ii. 20). And now every blessing +we ever had, or ever shall have, comes to us by the +Divine Sacrifice, by “the precious blood.” +And “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great +salvation?” His blood is the meritorious cause +not only of our pardon, but of our cleansing, our +sanctification; but the Holy Spirit is the ever-present, +living, active Cause.</p> + +<p>The truth or word which sanctifies is the record God +has given us of His will and of that Divine Sacrifice, +that “precious blood.” The faith that +purifies is that sure confidence in that word which +leads to renunciation of all self-righteousness, that +utter abandonment to God’s will, and full dependence +on the merits of “the precious blood,” +the “faith that works by love,” for “faith +without works is dead.” And thus we draw nigh +to God, and God draws nigh to us, and the Holy Ghost +falls upon us, comes into us, and cleanses our hearts +by the destruction of sin, and the shedding abroad +within us of the love of God.</p> + +<p>The advocates of entire sanctification as an experience +wrought in the soul by the baptism with the Spirit +subsequent to regeneration call it “the second +blessing.”</p> + +<p>But many good people object to the term, and say that +they have received the first, second, third, and fiftieth +blessing; and no doubt they have; and yet the people +who speak of “the second blessing” are +right, in the sense in which they use the term; and +in that sense there are but the two blessings.</p> + +<p>Some years ago a man heard things about a lady that +filled him with admiration for her, and made him feel +that they were of one mind and heart. Later, he met +her for the first time, and fell in love with her. +After some months, following an enlarged acquaintance +and much consideration and prayer, he told her of +his love, and asked her to become his wife; and after +due consideration and prayer on her part she consented, +and they promised themselves to each other; they plighted +their faith, and in a sense gave themselves to each +other.</p> + +<p>That was the first blessing, and it filled him with +great peace and joy, but not perfect peace and joy. +Now, there were many blessings following that before +the great second blessing came. Every letter he received, +every tender look, every pressure of the hand, every +tone of her voice, every fresh assurance of enduring +and increasing affection was a blessing; but it was +not the second blessing.</p> + +<p>But one day, after patient waiting, which might have +been shortened by mutual consent, if they had thought +it wise, and after full preparation, they came together +in the presence of friends and before a man of God, +and in the most solemn and irrevocable manner gave +themselves to each other to become one, and were pronounced +man and wife. That was the second blessing, an epochal +experience, unlike anything which preceded, or anything +to follow. And now their peace and joy and rest were +full.</p> + +<p>There had to be the first and second blessings in +this relationship of man and wife, but there is no +third. And yet in the sense of those who say they +have received fifty blessings from the Lord, there +have been countless blessings in their wedded life; +indeed, it has been a river of blessing, broadening +and deepening in gladness and joy and sweet affections +and fellowship with the increasing years.</p> + +<p>But let us not confuse thought by disputing over terms +and wrangling about words.</p> + +<p>The first blessing in Jesus Christ is salvation, with +its negative side of remission of sins and forgiveness, +and its positive side of renewal or regeneration—­the +new birth—­one experience.</p> + +<p>And the second blessing is entire sanctification, +with its negative side of cleansing, and its positive +side of filling with the Holy Ghost—­one +whole, rounded, glorious, epochal experience. And +while there may be many refreshings, girdings, illuminations, +and secret tokens and assurances of love and favour, +there is no third blessing in this large sense, in +this present time.</p> + +<p>But when time is no more, when the ever-lasting doors +have lifted up, and the King of Glory comes in with +His Bride, and, for ever redeemed and crowned, He +makes us to sit down with Him on His throne, then +in eternity we shall have the third blessing—­we +shall be glorified.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter4"></a> +<h1>IV.</h1> + +<h2>The Witness of the Spirit</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>How shall I know that I am accepted of God?—­that +I am saved or sanctified? The Bible declares God’s +love and pity for sinners, including me, and reveals +His offer of mercy to me in Jesus Christ, on condition +that I fully repent of my sins, and yielding myself +to Him, believe on Jesus Christ, and taking up my cross, +follow Him. But how shall I know that I have met these +conditions in a way to satisfy Him, and that I am +myself saved?</p> + +<p>1. The Bible cannot tell me this. It tells me what +to do, but it does not tell me when I have done it, +any more than the sign-board at the country cross-roads, +pointing out the road leading to the city, tells me +when I have got to the city.</p> + +<p>2. My religious teachers and friends cannot tell me, +for they cannot read my heart, nor the mind of God +toward me. How can they know when I have in my heart +repented and believed, and when His righteous anger +is turned away?</p> + +<p>They can encourage me to repent, believe, obey, and +can assure me that, if I do, He will accept me, and +I shall be saved; but beyond that they cannot go.</p> + +<p>3. My own heart, owing to its darkness and deceitfulness +and liability to error, is not a safe witness previous +to the assurance God Himself gives. If my neighbour +is justly offended with me, it is not my own heart, +but his testimony that first assures me of his favour +once more.</p> + +<p>How, then, shall I know that I am justified or wholly +sanctified? There is but one way, and that is by the +witness of the Holy Spirit. God must notify me, and +make me to know it; and this He does, when, despairing +of my own works of righteousness, I cast my poor soul +fully and in faith upon Jesus. “For ye have not +received the spirit of bondage again to fear,” +says Paul, “but ye have received the spirit +of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit +itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are +the children of God” (Romans viii. 15, 16). “And +because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit +of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” +(Gal. iv. 6). Unless He Himself assures me, I shall +never know that He accepts me, but must continue in +uncertainty all my days.</p> + +<p> “Come, Holy Ghost, Thyself impress<br> + On my expanding heart:<br> + And show that in the Father’s +grace<br> + I share a filial part.”</p> + +<p>The General says: “Assurance is produced by +the revelation of forgiveness and acceptance made +by God Himself directly to the soul. This is the witness +of the Spirit. It is God testifying in my soul that +He has loved me, and given Himself for me, and washed +me from my sins in His own blood. Nothing short of +this <i>actual revelation</i>, made by God Himself, +can make anyone sure of salvation.”</p> + +<p>John Wesley says: “By the testimony of the Spirit, +I mean an inward impression of the soul, whereby the +Spirit of God immediately and directly witnesses to +my spirit that I am a child of God; that ‘Jesus +hath loved me, and given Himself for me’; that +all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled +to God.”</p> + +<p>This witness of the Spirit addressed to my consciousness +enables me to sing with joyful assurance:—­</p> + +<p> “My God is reconciled;<br> + His pardoning voice I hear:<br> + He owns me for His child;<br> + I can no longer fear:<br> + With confidence I now draw nigh,<br> + And, ‘Father, Abba, Father,’ +cry.”</p> + +<p>When the Holy Spirit witnesses to me that I am saved +and adopted into God’s family as His child, +then other evidences begin to abound also. For instance:—­</p> + +<p>1. My own spirit witnesses that I am a new creature. +I know that old things have passed away, and all things +have become new. My very thoughts and desires have +been changed. Love and joy and peace reign within +me. My heart no longer condemns me. Pride and selfishness, +and lust and temper, no longer control my thoughts +nor lead captive my will. I am a new creature, and +I know it, and I infer without doubt that this is +the work of God in me.</p> + +<p>2. My conscience bears witness that I am honest and +true in all my purposes and intentions; that I am +without guile; that my eye is single to the glory +of God, and that with all simplicity and sincerity +of heart I serve Him; and, since by nature I am only +sinful, I again infer that this sincerity of heart +is His blessed work in my soul, and is a fruit of +salvation.</p> + +<p>3. The Bible becomes a witness to my salvation. In +it are accurately portrayed the true characteristics +of the children of God; and as I study it prayerfully, +and find these characteristics in my heart and life, +I again infer that I am saved. This is true self-examination, +and is most useful.</p> + +<p>These evidences are most important to guard us against +any mistake as to the witness of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>The witness of the Spirit is not likely to be mistaken +for something else, just as the sun is not likely +to be mistaken for a lesser light, a glow-worm or +a moon. But one who has not seen the sun might mistake +some lesser light for the sun. So an unsaved man may +mistake some flash of fancy, some pleasant emotion, +for the witness of the Spirit. But if he is honest, +the absence of these secondary evidences and witnesses +will correct him. He must know that so long as sin +masters him, reigns within him, and he is devoid of +the tempers, graces, and dispositions of God’s +people, as portrayed in the Bible, that he is mistaken +in supposing that he has the witness of the Spirit. +The Holy Spirit cannot witness to what does not exist. +He cannot lie. Not until sin is forgiven does He witness +to the fact. Not until we are justified from our old +sins and born again does He witness that we are children +of God; and when He does so witness, these secondary +evidences always follow. Charles Wesley expresses this +in one of his matchless hymns:—­</p> + +<p> “How can a sinner know<br> + His sins on earth forgiven?<br> + How can my gracious Saviour show<br> + My name inscribed in Heaven?</p> + +<p> “We who in Christ believe<br> + That He for us hath died,<br> + We all His unknown peace receive,<br> + And feel His blood applied.</p> + +<p> “His love, surpassing far<br> + The love of all beneath,<br> + We find within our hearts, and dare<br> + The pointless darts of death.</p> + +<p> “Stronger than death and hell<br> + The mystic power we prove;<br> + And conquerors of the world, we dwell<br> + In Heaven, who dwell in love.”</p> + +<p>The witness of the Spirit is far more comprehensive +than many suppose. Multitudes do not believe that +there is any such thing, while others confine it to +the forgiveness of sins and adoption into the family +of God. But the truth is that the Holy Spirit witnesses +to much more than this.</p> + +<p>He witnesses to the sinner that he is guilty, condemned +before God, and lost. This we call conviction; but +it is none other than the witness of the Spirit to +the sinner’s true condition; and when a man +realises it, nothing can convince him to the contrary. +His friends may point out his good works, his kindly +disposition, and try to assure him that he is not +a bad man; but, so long as the Spirit continues to +witness to his guilt, nothing can console him or reassure +his quaking heart. This convicting witness may come +to a sinner at any time, but it is usually given under +the searching preaching of the Gospel, or the burning +testimony of those who have been gloriously saved +and sanctified; or in time of danger, when the soul +is awed into silence, so that it can hear the “still +small voice” of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>Again, the Holy Spirit not only witnesses to the forgiveness +of sins and acceptance with God, but He also witnesses +to sanctification. “For by one offering,” +says the Apostle, “He” (that is, Jesus) +“hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. +Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us” +(Hebrews x. 14, 15).</p> + +<p>Indeed, one who has this witness can no more doubt +it than a man with two good eyes can doubt the existence +of the sun when he steps forth into the splendour +of a cloudless noon-day. It satisfies him, and he +cries out exultingly, “We know, we know!” +Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>Paul seems to teach that the Holy Spirit witnesses +to every good thing God works in us, for he says: +“We have received, not the spirit of the world, +but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know +the things that are freely given to us of God” +(1 Cor. ii. 12). It is for our comfort and encouragement +to know our acceptance of God and our rights, privileges, +and possessions in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit +is given for this purpose, that we may <i>know</i>.</p> + +<p>But it is important to bear in mind God’s plan +of work in this matter.</p> + +<p>1. The witness of the Spirit is dependent upon our +faith. God does not give it to those who do not believe +in Jesus; and if our faith wavers, the witness will +become intermittent; and if faith fails, it will be +withdrawn. Owing to the unsteadiness of their faith, +many young converts get into uncertainty. Happy are +they at such times if some one is at hand to instruct +and encourage them to look steadfastly to Jesus. But, +alas! many old Christians through unsteady faith walk +in gloom and uncertainty, and, instead of encouraging +the young, they discourage them. Steadfast faith will +keep the inward witness bright.</p> + +<p>2. We must not get our attention off Jesus, and the +promises of God in Him, and fix it upon the witness +of the Spirit. The witness continues only while we +look unto Jesus, and trust and obey Him. When we take +our eyes off Him, the witness is gone. Many people +fail here. Instead of quietly and confidently looking +unto Jesus, and trusting Him, they are vainly looking +for the witness; which is as though a man should try +to realise the sweetness of honey, without receiving +it in his mouth; or the beauty of a picture, while +having his eyes turned inward upon himself instead +of outward upon the picture. Jesus saves. Look to +Him, and He will send the Spirit to witness to His +work.</p> + +<p>3. The witness may be brightened by diligence in the +discharge of duty, by frequent seasons of glad prayer, +by definite testimony to salvation and sanctification, +and by stirring up our faith.</p> + +<p>4. The witness may be dulled by neglect of duty, by +sloth in prayer, by inattention to the Bible, by indefinite, +hesitating testimony, and by carelessness, when we +should be careful to walk soberly and steadfastly +with the Lord.</p> + +<p>5. I dare not say that the witness of the Spirit is +dependent upon our health, but there are some forms +of nervous and organic disease that seem to so distract +or becloud the mind as to interfere with the clear +discernment of the witness of the Spirit. I knew a +nervous little child who would be so distracted with +fear by an approaching carriage, when being carried +across the street in her father’s arms, that +she seemed to be incapable of hearing or heeding his +reassuring voice. It may be that there are some diseases +that for the time prevent the sufferer from discerning +the reassuring witness of the Heavenly Father. Dr. +Asa Mahan told me of an experience of this kind which +he had in a very dangerous sickness. And Dr. Daniel +Steele had a similar experience while lying at the +point of death with typhoid fever. But some of the +happiest Christians the world has seen have been racked +with pain and tortured with disease.</p> + +<p>And so there may be seasons of fierce temptation when +the witness is not clearly discerned; but we may rest +assured that if our hearts cleave to Jesus Christ +and duty, He will never leave or forsake us. Blessed +be God!</p> + +<p>6. But the witness will be lost if we wilfully sin, +or persistently neglect to follow where He leads. +This witness is a pearl of great price, and Satan +will try to steal it from us; therefore, we must guard +it with watchful prayer continually.</p> + +<p>7. If lost, it may be found again by prayer and faith +and a dutiful taking up of the cross which has been +laid down. Thousands who have lost it have found it +again, and often they have found it with increased +brightness and glory. If you have lost it, my brother, +look up in faith to your loving God, and He will restore +it to you. It is possible to live on the right side +of plain duty without the witness, but you cannot be +sure of your salvation, joyful in service, or glad +in God, without it; and since it is promised to all +God’s children, no one who professes to be His +should be without it.</p> + +<p>If you have it not, my brother or sister, seek it +now by faith in Jesus. Go to Him, and do not let Him +go till He notifies you that you are His. Listen to +Charles Wesley:—­</p> + +<p> “From the world of sin, and noise,<br> + And hurry, I withdraw;<br> + For the small and inward voice<br> + I wait with humble awe;<br> + Silent am I now and still,<br> + Dare not in Thy presence move;<br> + To my waiting soul reveal<br> + The secret of Thy love.”</p> + +<p>Do you want the witness to abide? Then study the word +of God, and live by it; sing and make melody in your +heart to the Lord; praise the Lord with your first +waking breath in the morning, and thank Him with your +last waking breath at night; flee from sin; keep on +believing; look to Jesus, cleave to Him, follow Him +gladly, trust the efficacy of His blood, and the witness +will abide in your heart. Be patient with the Lord. +Let Him mould you, and “He will save, He will +rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, +He will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. iii. +17); and you shall no longer doubt, but know that you +are His. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p> “There are in this loud stunning +tide<br> + Of human care and crime,<br> + With whom the melodies abide<br> + Of th’ everlasting chime;<br> + Who carry music in their heart<br> + Through dusky lane and wrangling mart,<br> + Plying their task with busier feet<br> + Because their secret souls a holy strain +repeat.”</p> + +<p>And that “holy strain” is but the echo +of the Lord’s song in their heart, which is +the witness of the Spirit.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter5"></a> +<h1>V.</h1> + +<h2>Purity</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>A minister of the Gospel, after listening to an eminent +servant of God preaching on entire sanctification +through the baptism with the Spirit, wrote to him, +saying: “I like your teaching on the baptism +with the Holy Ghost. I need it, and am seeking it; +but I do not care much for entire sanctification or +heart-cleansing. Pray for me that I may be filled +with the Holy Ghost.”</p> + +<p>The brother knew him well, and immediately replied: +“I am so glad you believe in the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and are so earnestly seeking it. I +join my prayer with yours that you may receive that +gift. But let me say to you, that if you get the gift +of the Holy Ghost, you will have to take entire sanctification +with it, for the first thing the baptism with the Holy +Ghost does is to cleanse the heart from all sin.”</p> + +<p>Thank God, he humbled himself, permitted the Lord +to sanctify him, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit, +and mightily empowered to work for God.</p> + +<p>Many have looked at the promise of power when the +Holy Ghost is come, the energy of Peter’s preaching +on the day of Pentecost, and the marvellous results +which followed, and they have hastily and erroneously +jumped to the conclusion that the baptism with the +Holy Ghost is for work and service only.</p> + +<p>It does bring power—­the power of God, and +it does fit for service, probably the most important +service to which any created beings are commissioned, +the proclamation of salvation and the conditions of +peace to a lost world; but not that alone, nor primarily. +The primary, the basal work of the baptism, is that +of cleansing.</p> + +<p>You may turn a flood into your millrace, but until +it sweeps away the logs and brushwood and dirt that +obstruct the course, you cannot get power to turn +the wheels of your mill. The flood first washes out +the obstructions, and then you have power.</p> + +<p>The great hindrance in the hearts of God’s children +to the power of the Holy Ghost is inbred sin—­that +dark, defiant, evil something within that struggles +for the mastery of the soul, and will not submit to +be meek and lowly, and patient and forbearing and +holy, as was Jesus; and when the Holy Spirit comes, +His first work is to sweep away that something, that +carnal principle, and make free and clean all the +channels of the soul.</p> + +<p>Peter was filled with power on the day of Pentecost; +but evidently the purifying effect of the baptism +made a deeper and more lasting impression upon his +mind than the empowering effect; for years after, +in that first Council in Jerusalem, recorded in the +fifteenth chapter of Acts, he stood up and told about +the spiritual baptism of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, +and his household, and he said: “And God, which +knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them +the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us; and put no +difference between us and them, purifying their hearts +by faith.” Here he calls attention not to power, +but to purity, as the effect of the baptism. When +the Holy Ghost comes in to abide, “the old man” +goes out. Praise the Lord!</p> + +<p>This destruction of inbred sin is made perfectly plain +in that wonderful Old Testament type of the baptism +with the Holy Ghost and fire recorded in the sixth +chapter of Isaiah. The prophet was a most earnest +preacher of righteousness (see Isaiah i. 10-20), yet +he was not sanctified wholly. But he had a vision of +the Lord upon His Throne, and the seraphims crying +one to another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord +of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” +And the very “posts of the door moved at the +voice of him that cried”; and how much more +should the heart of the prophet be moved! And so it +was; and he cried out: “Woe is me! for I am +undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell +in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine +eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”</p> + +<p>When unsanctified men have a vision of God, it is +not their lack of power, but their lack of purity, +their unlikeness to Christ, the Holy One, that troubles +them. And so it was with the prophet. But he adds: +“Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having +a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the +tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth, +and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine +iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” +Here again, it is purity rather than power to which +our attention is directed.</p> + +<p>Again, in the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel, we +have another type of this spiritual baptism. In Isaiah +the type was that of fire, but here it is that of +water; for water and oil, and the wind and rain and +dew, are all used as types of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>The Lord says, through Ezekiel: “Then will I +sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; +from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, +will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, +and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will +take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I +will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My +Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, +and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.”</p> + +<p>Here again, the incoming of the Holy Spirit means +the outgoing of all sin, of “all your filthiness, +and of all your idols.” How plainly it is taught! +And yet, many of God’s dear children do not +believe it is their privilege to be free from sin and +pure in heart in this life. But, may we not? Let us +consider this.</p> + +<p>1. It is certainly <i>desirable</i>. Every sincere +Christian—­and none can be a Christian who +is not sincere—­wants to be free from sin, +to be pure in heart, to be like Christ. Sin is hateful +to every true child of God. The Spirit within him +cries out against the sin, the wrong temper, the pride, +the lust, the selfishness, the evil that lurks within +the heart. Surely, it is desirable to be free from +sin.</p> + +<p> “He wills that I should holy be:<br> + That holiness I long to feel;<br> + That full Divine conformity<br> + To all my Saviour’s righteous +will.”</p> + +<p>2. It is <i>necessary</i>, for “without holiness +no man shall see the Lord.” Sometime, somehow, +somewhere, sin must go out of our hearts—­all +sin—­or we cannot go into Heaven. Sin would +spoil Heaven just as it spoils earth; just as it spoils +the peace of hearts and homes, of families and neighbourhoods +and nations here. Why God in His wisdom allows sin +in the world, I do not know, I cannot understand. +But this I understand: that He has one world into +which He will not let sin enter. He has notified us +in advance that no sin, nothing that defiles, can +enter Heaven, can mar the blessedness of that holy +place. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the +Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that +hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted +up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” +We must get rid of sin to get into Heaven, to enjoy +the full favour of God. It is necessary.</p> + +<p> “Choose I must, and soon must choose<br> + Holiness, or Heaven lose.<br> + If what Heaven loves I hate,<br> + Shut for me is Heaven’s gate!</p> + +<p> “Endless sin means endless woe;<br> + Into endless sin I go<br> + If my soul, from reason rent,<br> + Takes from sin its final bent.</p> + +<p> “As the stream its channel grooves,<br> + And within that channel moves;<br> + So does habit’s deepest tide<br> + Groove its bed and there abide.</p> + +<p> “Light obeyed increaseth light;<br> + Light resisted bringeth night;<br> + Who shall give me will to choose<br> + If the love of light I lose?</p> + +<p> “Speed, my soul, this instant yield;<br> + Let the light its sceptre wield.<br> + While thy God prolongs His grace,<br> + Haste thee to His holy face.”</p> + +<p>3. This purification from sin is <i>promised</i>. +Nothing can be plainer than the promise of God on +this point. “Then will I sprinkle clean water +upon you, and ye shall be clean; from <i>all</i> your +filthiness and from <i>all</i> your idols will I cleanse +you.” When all is removed, nothing remains. When +all filthiness and all idols are taken away, none +are left.</p> + +<p>“But where sin abounded, grace did much more +abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even +so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal +life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans v. 20, +21). Grace reigns, not through sin, but “through +righteousness” which has expelled sin. Grace +brings in righteousness and sin goes out.</p> + +<p>“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, +we have fellowship one with another, and the blood +of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” +(1 John i. 7). Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>“Being then made free from sin, ye became the +servants of righteousness” (Romans vi. 18).</p> + +<p>These are sample promises and assurances any one of +which is sufficient to encourage us to believe that +our Heavenly Father will save us from all sin, if +we meet His conditions.</p> + +<p>4. And that deliverance is <i>possible</i>. It was +for this that Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, +came into the world, and suffered and died, that He +might “save His people from their sins” +(Matthew i. 21). It was for this that He shed His precious +blood: to “cleanse us from all sin.” It +was for this that the word of God, with its wonderful +promises, was given: “That by these ye might +be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the +corruption that is in the world through lust” +(2 Peter i. 4); by which is meant, escape from inbred +sin. It was for this that ministers of the Gospel—­Salvation +Army Officers—­are given, “for the +perfecting of the saints” (Eph. iv. 12), for +the saving and sanctifying of men (Acts xxvi. 18). +It is primarily for this that the Holy Ghost comes +as a baptism of fire: that sin might be consumed out +of us, so that we might be “made meet for the +inheritance of the saints in light”; that so +we might be ready without a moment’s warning +to go into the midst of the heavenly hosts in white +garments, “washed in the blood of the Lamb.” +Glory be to God for ever and ever!</p> + +<p>And shall all these mighty agents and this heavenly +provision, and these gracious purposes of God, fail +to destroy sin out of any obedient, believing heart? +Is sin omnipotent? No!</p> + +<p>If you, my brother, my sister, will look unto Jesus +just now, trusting the merits of His blood, and receive +the Holy Spirit into your heart, you shall be “made +free from sin”; it “shall not have dominion +over you.” Hallelujah! Under the fiery touch +of His holy presence, your iniquity shall be taken +away, and your sin shall be purged. And you yourself +shall burn as did the bush on the mount of God which +Moses saw; yet you, like the bush, shall not be consumed; +and by this holy fire, this flame of love, that consumes +sin, you shall be made proof against that unquenchable +fire that consumes sinners.</p> + +<p> “Come, Holy Ghost, Thy mighty aid bestowing;<br> + Destroy the works of sin, the self, the pride;<br> + Burn, burn in me, my idols overthrowing:<br> + Prepare my heart for Him, for my Lord crucified.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter6"></a> +<h1>VI.</h1> + +<h2>Power</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Just before His ascension, Jesus met His disciples +for the last time, and repeated His command that they +should “not depart from Jerusalem, but wait +for the promise of the Father,” and reiterated +His promise that they should be “baptised with +the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”</p> + +<p>Then “they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt +Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” +They were still eager for an earthly kingdom. But +“He said unto them, It is not for you to know +the time or the seasons, which the Father hath put +in His own power,” or authority. And then He +added, “But ye shall receive power after that +the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>They wanted power, and He assured them that they should +have it, but said nothing of its nature, or the work +and activities into which it would thrust them, and +for which it would equip them, beyond the fact that +they should be witnesses unto Him “in Jerusalem +and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” +After that the Holy Ghost Himself was henceforth to +be their Teacher.</p> + +<p>And then Jesus left them. Earth lost its power to +hold Him, and while they beheld Him He began to ascend; +a cloud bent low from Heaven, receiving Him out of +sight, and they were left alone, with His promise +of power ringing in their ears, and His command to +“wait for the promise of the Father” checking +any impatience that might lead them to “go a-fishing,” +as Peter had done some days before, or cause an undue +haste to begin their life-work of witnessing for Him +before God’s appointed time.</p> + +<p>For ten days they waited, not listlessly, but eagerly, +as a maid for her mistress, or a servant for his master, +who is expected to come at any moment; they forgot +their personal ambitions; they ceased to judge and +criticise one another, and in the sweet unity of brotherly +love, “with one accord” they rejoiced, +they prayed, they waited; and then on the day of Pentecost, +at their early morning prayer meeting, when they were +all present, the windows of Heaven were opened, and +such a blessing as they could not contain was poured +out upon them. “And suddenly there came a sound +from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled +all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared +unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat +upon each of them. And they were all filled with the +Holy Ghost.”</p> + +<p>This was the inaugural day of the Church of God: the +dawn of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit; the beginning +of the days of power.</p> + +<p>In the morning of that day there were only a few Christians +in the world; the New Testament was not written, and +it is doubtful if they had among them all a copy of +the Old Testament; they had no church buildings, no +colleges, no religious books and papers; they were +poor and despised, unlearned and ignorant; but before +night they had enrolled three thousand converts from +among those who, a few weeks before, had crucified +their Lord, and they had aroused and filled all Jerusalem +with questionings and amazement.</p> + +<p>What was the secret? Power. What was the secret? God +the Holy Ghost. He had come, and this work was His +work, and they were His instruments.</p> + +<p>When Jesus came, a body was prepared for Him (Hebrews +x. 5), and through that body He wrought His wondrous +works; but when the other Comforter comes, He takes +possession of those bodies that are freely and fully +presented to Him, and He touches their lips with grace; +He shines peacefully and gloriously on their faces; +He flashes beams of pity and compassion and heavenly +affection from their eyes; He kindles a fire of love +in their hearts, and lights the flame of truth in +their minds. They become His temple, and their hearts +are a holy of holies in which His blessed presence +ever abides, and from that central citadel He works, +enduing the man who has received Him with power.</p> + +<p>If you ask how the Holy Spirit can dwell within us +and work through us without destroying our personality, +I cannot tell. How can the electric fluid fill and +transform a dead wire into a live one, which you dare +not touch? How can a magnetic current fill a piece +of steel, and transform it into a mighty force which +by its touch can raise tons of iron, as a child would +lift a feather? How can fire dwell in a piece of iron +until its very appearance is that of fire, and it +becomes a fire-brand? I cannot tell.</p> + +<p>Now, what fire and electricity and magnetism do in +iron and steel, the Holy Spirit does in the spirits +of men who believe on Jesus, follow Him wholly, and +trust Him intelligently. He dwells in them, and inspires +them, till they are all alive with the very life of +God.</p> + +<p>The transformation wrought in men by the baptism with +the Holy Ghost, and the power that fills them, are +amazing beyond measure. The Holy Spirit gives—­</p> + +<p>1. <i>Power over the world</i>. They become</p> + +<p> “Dead to the world and all its toys,<br> + Its idle pomps and fading joys.”</p> + +<p>The world masters and enslaves people who have not +the Holy Spirit. To one man it offers money, and he +falls down and worships; sells his conscience and +character for gold. To another it offers power, and +he falls down and worships and sacrifices his principles +and sears his conscience for power. To another it +offers pleasure; to another learning; to another fame, +and they fall down and worship, and sell themselves +for these things. But the man filled with the Holy +Ghost is free. He can turn from these things without +a pang, as he would from pebbles; or, he can take +them and use them as his servants for the glory of +God and the good of men.</p> + +<p>What did Peter and James and John care for the great +places in the kingdoms of this world after they were +filled with the Holy Ghost? They would not have exchanged +places with Herod the king or with Cæsar himself. +For the gratification of any personal ambition these +things were no more attractive to them now than the +lordship over a tribe of ants on their tiny hill. They +were now kings and priests unto God, and theirs was +an everlasting kingdom, and its glory exceeds the +glory of the kingdoms of this world as the splendour +of the sun exceeds that of the glow-worm.</p> + +<p>The head of some great business enterprises was making +many thousands of dollars every year; but when the +Holy Spirit filled him money lost its power over him. +He still retained his position, and made vast sums; +but, as a steward of the Lord, he poured it into God’s +work, and has been doing so for more than thirty years.</p> + +<p>The disciples in Jerusalem after Pentecost held all +their possessions in common, so completely were they +freed from the power and love of money.</p> + +<p>A rising young lawyer got filled with the Spirit, +and the next day said to his client: “I cannot +plead your case. I have a retainer from the Lord Jesus”; +and he became one of the mightiest preachers the world +has ever seen.</p> + +<p>A popular lad got the fiery baptism, and went to his +baseball team, and said: “Boys, you swear, and +I am now a Christian, and I cannot play with you any +more”; and God made him the wonder of all his +old friends, and a happy winner of souls.</p> + +<p>A fashionable woman got the baptism, and God gave +her power to break away from her worldly set and surroundings, +live wholly for Him, and gave her an influence that +girdled the globe.</p> + +<p>Paul said: “The world is crucified unto me, +and I unto the world.” Men could whip, and stone, +and imprison his body, and cut off his head, but his +soul was free. It was enslaved and driven by no unholy +or inordinate ambition, by no lust for gold, by no +desire for power or fame, by no fear of man, by no +shame of worldly censure or adverse public opinion. +He had power over the world, and this same power is +the birthright of every converted man, and the present +possession of every one who is wholly sanctified by +the baptism with the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Power over the flesh</i>. The body which God +intended for a “house beautiful” for the +soul, and a temple holy unto Himself, is often reduced +to a sty, where the imprisoned soul wallows in lusts +and passions, and degrades itself below the level of +beasts. But this baptism gives a man power over his +body.</p> + +<p>God has given to man such desires and passions as +are necessary to secure his continued existence, and +not one is in itself evil, but good and only good; +and when controlled and used, but not abused, will +help to develop and maintain the purest and highest +manhood. The appetites for food and drink are necessary +to life. Another desire is intended to secure the +continuance of the human race. And so all the desires +and appetites of the body have useful ends, and were +given to us in love by our Heavenly Father for high +and essential purposes, and are necessary to us as +human beings.</p> + +<p>But the soul, cut off from fellowship with God, by +sin, seeks satisfaction in sensual excesses, and the +unlawful gratification of these appetites, and so +sinks to depths of degradation to which no beast ever +falls. Thus man becomes a slave; swollen and raging +passion takes the place of innocent appetites and desires.</p> + +<p>Now, when the Holy Spirit enters the heart and sanctifies +the soul, He does not destroy these desires, but He +purifies and regulates them. He reinforces the soul +with the fear and love of God, and gives it power, +complete power, over the fleshly appetites. He restores +it to its full fellowship with God and its kingship +over the body.</p> + +<p>But while these appetites and desires are not in themselves +sinful, but are necessary for our welfare and our complete +manhood, and while their diseased and abnormal power +is cured when we are sanctified, they are still avenues +through which we may be tempted. Therefore, they must +be guarded with care and ruled in wisdom. Many people +stumble at and reject the doctrine of entire sanctification, +because they do not understand these things. They +mistake that which is natural and essential to a human +being for the diseased and abnormal propensity caused +by sin, and so miss the blessed truth of full salvation.</p> + +<p>I knew a doctor, who had used tobacco for over sixty +years, delivered from the abnormal appetite instantly +through sanctification of the Spirit. I knew an old +man, who had been a drunkard for over fifty years, +similarly delivered. I knew a young man, the slave +of a vicious habit of the flesh, who was set free +at once by the fiery baptism. The electric current +cannot transform the dead wire into a live one quicker +than the Holy Spirit can flood a soul with light and +love, destroy the carnal mind, and fill a man with +power over all sin.</p> + +<p>3. <i>Power over the Devil</i>. The indwelling presence +of the Holy Spirit destroys all doubt as to the personality +of the Devil. He is discerned, and his malice is felt +and known as never before.</p> + +<p>In the dark a man may be so skilfully attacked that +his enemy is not discovered, but not in the day. Many +people in these days deny that there is any Devil, +only evil; but they are in the dark, so much in the +dark that they not only say that there is no Devil, +but that there is no personal God, only good. But the +day comes with the Holy Spirit’s entrance, and +then God is intimately known and the Devil is discovered. +And as he assailed Jesus after His baptism with the +Spirit, so he does to-day all who receive the Holy +Ghost. He comes as an angel of light to deceive, and +as a roaring lion to devour and overcome with fear; +but the soul filled with the Spirit outwits the Devil, +and, clad in the whole armour of God, overcomes the +old enemy.</p> + +<p>“Power over all the power of the enemy” +is God’s purpose for all His children. Power +to do the will of God patiently and effectively, with +naturalness and ease, or to suffer the will of God +with patience and good cheer, comes with this blessed +baptism. It is power for service or sacrifice, according +to God’s will. Have you this power? If not, +it is for you. Yield yourself fully to Christ just +now, and if you ask in faith you shall receive.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<h1>VII.</h1> + +<h2>Trying the Spirits</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Those who have not the Holy Spirit, or who do not +heed Him, fall easily and naturally into formalism, +substituting lifeless ceremonies, sacraments, genuflections, +and ritualistic performances for the free, glad, living +worship inspired by the indwelling Spirit. They sing, +but not from the heart. They say their prayers, but +they do not really pray. “I prayed last night, +mother,” said a child. “Why, my child, +you pray every night!” replied the mother. “No,” +said the child, “I only said prayers, but last +night I really prayed.” And his face shone. +He had opened his heart to the Holy Spirit, and had +at last really talked with God and worshipped.</p> + +<p>But those who receive the Holy Spirit may fall into +fanaticism, unless they follow the command of John +to “try the spirits, whether they are of God.”</p> + +<p>We are commanded to “despise not prophesyings,” +but at the same time we are commanded to “prove +all things.” “Many false prophets are +gone out into the world,” and, if possible, will +lead us astray. So we must beware. As some one has +written, we must “Believe not every spirit; +regard not, trust not, follow not, every pretender +to the Spirit of God, or every professor of vision, +or inspiration, or revelation from God.”</p> + +<p>The higher and more intense the life, the more carefully +must it be guarded, lest it be endangered and go astray. +It is so in the natural world, and likewise in the +spiritual world.</p> + +<p>When Satan can no longer rock people to sleep with +religious lullabys, or satisfy them with the lifeless +form, then he comes as an angel of light, probably +in the person of some professor or teacher of religion, +and seeks to usurp the place of the Holy Spirit; but +instead of leading “into all truth,” he +leads the unwary soul into deadly error; instead of +directing him on to the highway of holiness, and into +the path of perfect peace, where no ravenous beast +ever comes, he leads him into a wilderness where the +soul, stripped of its beautiful garments of salvation, +is robbed and wounded and left to die, if some good +Samaritan, with patient pity and Christlike love, +come not that way.</p> + +<p>1. When the Holy Spirit comes in His fullness, He +strips men of their self-righteousness and pride and +conceit. They see themselves as the chief of sinners, +and realise that only through the stripes of Jesus +are they healed; and ever after, as they live in the +Spirit, their boast is in Him and their glory is in +the cross. Remembering the hole of the pit from which +they were digged, they are filled with tender pity +for all who are out of the way; and, while they do +not excuse or belittle sin, yet they are slow to believe +evil, and their judgments are full of charity.</p> + +<p> “Judge not; the workings of his +brain<br> + And of his heart thou canst not +see:<br> + What looks to thy dim eyes a stain,<br> + In God’s pure light may only +be<br> + A scar, brought from some well-won field,<br> + Where thou wouldst only faint and yield.”</p> + +<p>But the man who has been thus snared by Satan forgets +his own past miserable state, and boasts of his righteousness, +and thanks God that he was never as other men, and +he begins to beat his fellow-servants with heavy denunciations, +and thrust them through with sharp criticisms, and +pelt them with hard words. He ceases to pity, and +begins to condemn; he no longer warns and entreats +men in tender love, but is quick to believe evil, and +swift to pass judgment, not only upon their actions, +but upon their motives as well.</p> + +<p>True charity has no fellowship with deeds of darkness. +It never calls evil good, it does not wink at iniquity, +but it is as far removed from this sharp, condemning +spirit as light is from darkness, as honey is from +vinegar. It is quick to condemn sin, but is full of +saving, long-suffering compassion for the sinner.</p> + +<p>2. A humble, teachable mind marks those in whom the +Holy Spirit dwells. They esteem very highly in love +those who are over them in the Lord, and are glad +to be admonished by them. They submit themselves one +to the other in the fear of the Lord, welcome instruction +and correction, and esteem “open rebuke better +than secret love” (Proverbs xxvii. 5). They +believe that the Lord has yet many things to say unto +them, and they are willing and glad for Him to say +them by whom He will, but especially by their leaders +and their brethren. While they do not fawn and cringe +before men, nor believe everything that is said to +them, without proving it by the word and Spirit of +God, they believe that God “gave some, apostles; +and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, +pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, +for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the +body of Christ”; and, like Cornelius, they are +ready to hear these appointed ministers, and receive +the word of the Lord from them.</p> + +<p>But Satan seeks to destroy all this lowliness of spirit +and humbleness of mind. Those in whom his deadly work +has begun are “wiser in their own conceit than +seven men that can render a reason.” They are +wiser than all their teachers, and no man can instruct +them. One of these deluded souls, who had previously +been marked by modesty and humility, declared of certain +of God’s chosen leaders whose spiritual knowledge +and wisdom were everywhere recognised, that “the +whole of them knew no more about the Holy Ghost than +an old goose.” Paul, Luther, and Wesley were +much troubled, and their work greatly hurt, by some +of these misguided souls, and every great spiritual +awakening is likely to be marred more or less by such +people; so that we cannot be too much on our guard +against false spirits who would counterfeit the work +and leadings of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>It is this huge conceit that has led some men to announce +themselves as apostles and prophets to whom all men +must listen, or fall under the wrath of God; while +others have declared that they were living in resurrection +bodies and should not die; and yet others have reached +that pitch of fanaticism where they could calmly proclaim +themselves to be the Messiah, or the Holy Ghost in +bodily form. Such people will be quick to deny the +infallibility of the Pope, while they assume their +own infallibility, and denounce all who dispute it.</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit may lead to a holy rivalry in love +and humility and brotherly kindness and self-denial +and good works, but He never leads men into the swelling +conceit of such exclusive knowledge and superior wisdom +that they can no longer be taught by their fellow-men.</p> + +<p>3. Again, the man who is filled with the Spirit is +tolerant of those who differ from him in opinion, +in doctrine. He is firm in his own convictions, and +ready at all times with meekness and fear to explain +and defend the doctrines which he holds and is convinced +are according to God’s word, but he does not +condemn and consign to damnation all those who differ +from him. He is glad to believe that men are often +better than their creed, and may be saved in spite +of it; that, like mountains whose bases are bathed +with sunshine and clothed with fruitful fields and +vineyards, while their tops are covered with dark clouds, +so men’s hearts are often fruitful in the graces +of charity, while their heads are yet darkened by +doctrinal error.</p> + +<p>Anyway, as “the servant of the Lord,” +he will “not strive; but be gentle unto all +men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing +those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure +will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the +truth; and that they may recover themselves out of +the snare of the Devil” (2 Timothy ii. 24-26).</p> + +<p>But when Satan comes as an angel of light he will, +under guise of love for and loyalty to the truth, +introduce the spirit of intolerance. It was this spirit +that crucified Jesus; that burned Huss and Cranmer +at the stake; that strangled Savonarola; that inspired +the massacre of St. Bartholomew and the horrors of +the Inquisition; and it is the same spirit, in a milder +but possibly more subtle form, that blinds the eyes +of many professing Christians to any good in those +who differ from them in doctrine, forms of worship +or methods of government. They murder love to protect +what they often blindly call truth. What is truth without +love? A dead thing, an encumbrance, the letter that +killeth!</p> + +<p>The body is necessary to our life in this world, but +life can exist in a deformed and even mutilated body; +and such a body with life in it is better than the +most perfect body that is only a corpse. So, while +truth is most precious, and sound doctrine to be esteemed +more than silver and gold, yet love can exist where +truth is not held in its most perfect and complete +forms, and love is the one thing needful.</p> + +<p> “The love of God is broader<br> + Than the measure of man’s +mind:<br> + And the heart of the Eternal<br> + Is most wonderfully kind.”</p> + +<p>4. The Holy Ghost begets a spirit of unity among Christians. +People who have been sitting behind their sectarian +fences in self-complacent ease, or proud indifference, +or proselytising zeal, or grim defiance, are suddenly +lifted above the fence, and find sweet fellowship +with each other, when He comes into their hearts.</p> + +<p>They delight in each other’s society; they each +esteem others better than themselves, and in honour +they prefer one another before themselves. They fulfil +the Psalmist’s ideal: “Behold, how good +and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together +in unity.” Here is a picture of the unity of +Christians in the beginning in Jerusalem: “And +they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they +spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude +of them that believed were of one heart and of one +soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things +which he possessed was his own; but they had all things +common.” What an ideal is this! And since it +has been attained once, it can be attained again and +retained, but only by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. +It was for this that Jesus poured out His heart in +His great intercessory prayer, recorded in John xvii., +just before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. +He says, “I pray for them.... Neither pray I +for these alone, but for them also which shall believe +on Me through their word; that they all may be one.” +And what was the standard of unity to which He would +have us come? Listen!</p> + +<p>“As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; +that they also may be one in Us; that the world may +believe that Thou hast sent Me.” Such unity +has a wondrous power to compel the belief of worldly +men. “And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have +given them; that they may be one, even as We are one; +I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfect +in one; and that the world may <i>know</i> that Thou +hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved +Me.” Wondrous unity! Wondrous love!</p> + +<p>It is for this His blessed heart eternally yearns, +and it is for this that the Holy Spirit works in the +hearts of those who receive Him. But Satan ever seeks +to destroy this holy love and divine unity. When he +comes, he arouses suspicions, he stirs up strife, +he quenches the spirit of intercessory prayer, he +engenders backbitings, and causes separations.</p> + +<p>After enumerating various Christian graces, and urging +the Colossians to put them on, Paul adds: “And +above all these things, put on charity,” or +love, “which is the bond of perfectness” +(Col. iii. 14). These graces were garments, and love +was the girdle which bound and held them together; +and so love is the bond that holds true Christians +together.</p> + +<p>Divine love is the great test by which we are to try +ourselves and all teachers and spirits.</p> + +<p>Love is not puffed up. Love is not bigoted. Love is +not intolerant. Love is not schismatic. Love is loyal +to Jesus and to all His people. If we have this love +shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, we shall +discern the voice of our Good Shepherd, and we shall +not be deceived by the voice of the stranger; and so +we shall be saved from both formalism and fanaticism.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter8"></a> +<h1>VIII.</h1> + +<h2>Guidance</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>It is the work of the Holy Spirit to guide the people +of God through the uncertainties and dangers and duties +of this life to their home in Heaven. When He led +the children of Israel out of Egypt, by the hand of +Moses, He guided them through the waste, mountainous +wilderness, in a pillar of cloud by day and of fire +by night, thus assuring their comfort and safety. And +this was but a type of His perpetual spiritual guidance +of His people.</p> + +<p>“But how may I certainly know what God wants +of me?” is sure to become the earnest and, oftentimes, +the agonising cry of every humble and devoutly zealous +young Christian. “How may I know the guidance +of the Holy Spirit?” is asked again and again.</p> + +<p>1. It is well for us to get it fixed in our minds +that we need to be guided always by Him. A ship was +wrecked on a rocky coast far out of the course that +the captain thought he was taking. On examination, +it was found that the compass had been slightly deflected +by a bit of metal that had lodged in the box.</p> + +<p>But the voyage of life on which we each one sail is +beset by as many dangers as the ship at sea, and how +shall we surely steer our course to our heavenly harbour +without Divine guidance? There is a wellnigh infinite +number of influences to deflect us from the safe and +certain course. We start out in the morning, and we +know not what person we may meet, what paragraph we +may read, what word may be spoken, what letter we +may receive, what subtle temptation may assail or +allure us, what immediate decisions we may have to +make during the day, that may turn us almost imperceptibly, +but none the less surely, from the right way. We need +the guidance of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>2. We not only need Divine guidance, but we may have +it. God’s word assures us of this. Oh! how my +heart was comforted and assured one morning by these +words: “And the Lord shall guide thee continually” +(Isaiah lviii. 11). Not occasionally, not spasmodically, +but “continually.” Hallelujah! The Psalmist +says: “This God is our God for ever and ever: +He will be our Guide even unto death” (Psalm +xlviii. 14). Again, he says: “The meek will +He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His +way” (Psalm xxv. 9). And again, “I will +instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou +shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye” (Psalm +xxxii. 8). And again, “Thou shalt guide me with +Thy counsel” (Psalm Ixxiii. 24). Jesus said +of the Holy Spirit: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit +of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” +(John xvi. 13). And Paul wrote: “As many as are +led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” +(Romans viii. 14).</p> + +<p>These Scriptures establish the fact that the children +of God may be guided always by the Spirit of God.</p> + +<p> “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,<br> + Pilgrim through this barren land!<br> + I am weak, but Thou art mighty:<br> + Hold me with Thy powerful hand.”</p> + +<p>3. How does God guide us?</p> + +<p>Paul says: “We walk by faith, not by sight,” +and, “The just shall live by faith,” so +we may conclude:—­</p> + +<p>(a) That the guidance of the Holy Spirit is such as +still to demand the exercise of faith. God never leads +us in such a way as to do away with the necessity +of faith. When God warned Noah, we read that it was +by faith that Noah was led to build the ark. When +God told Abraham to go to a land which He would show +him, it was by faith that Abraham went (Hebrews xi. +7, 8). If we believe, we shall surely be guided; but +if we do not believe, we shall be left to ourselves. +Without faith it is impossible to please God, or to +follow where He leads. Again, the Psalmist says, “The +meek will He guide in judgment,” from which +we gather:—­</p> + +<p>(b) That the Spirit guides us in such manner as to +demand the exercise of our best judgment. He enlightens +our understanding and directs our judgment by sound +reason and sense.</p> + +<p>I knew a man who was eager to obey God, and to be +led by the Spirit, but who had the mistaken idea that +the Holy Spirit sets aside human judgment and common +sense, and speaks directly upon the most minute and +commonplace matters. He wanted the Holy Spirit to +direct him just how much to eat at each meal, and he +has been known to take food out of his mouth at what +he supposed to be the Holy Spirit’s notification +that he had eaten enough, and that if he swallowed +that mouthful, it would be in violation of the leadings +of the Spirit.</p> + +<p>No doubt, the Spirit will help an honest man to arrive +at a safe judgment even in matters of this kind, but +it will doubtless be through the use of his sanctified +common sense. Otherwise, he is reduced to a state +of mental infancy, and kept in intellectual swaddling +clothes. He will guide us in judgment; but it is only +as we resolutely, and in the best light we have, exercise +judgment.</p> + +<p>John Wesley said that God usually guided him by presenting +reasons to his mind for any given course of action.</p> + +<p>(c) The Psalmist says, “Thou shalt guide me +with Thy counsel,” and “I will instruct +thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go.” +Now, counsel, instruction, and teaching not only imply +effort upon the part of the teacher, but also study +and close attention on the part of the one being taught. +So this guidance of the Holy Spirit is such as will +require us to attentively listen, diligently study, +and patiently learn the lessons He would teach us. +And so we see that the Holy Spirit does not set aside +our powers and faculties, but seeks to awaken and +stir them into full activity, and develop them into +well-rounded perfection, and thus make them channels +through which He can intelligently influence and direct +us.</p> + +<p>What He seeks to do is to illuminate our whole spiritual +being, as the sun illuminates our physical being, +and bring us into such union and sympathy, such oneness +of thought, desire, affection, and purpose with God, +that we shall, by a kind of spiritual instinct, know +at all times the mind of God concerning us, and never +be in doubt about His will.</p> + +<p>4. The Holy Spirit guides us—­</p> + +<p>(a) By opening up to our minds the deep, sanctifying +truths of the Bible, and especially by revealing to +us the character and spirit of Jesus and His Apostles, +and leading us to follow in their footsteps—­the +footsteps of their faith and love and unselfish devotion +to God and man, even unto the laying down of their +lives.</p> + +<p>(b) By the circumstances and surroundings of our daily +life.</p> + +<p>(c) By the counsel of others, especially of devout, +and wise, and experienced men and women of God.</p> + +<p>(d) By deep inward conviction, which increases as +we wait upon Him in prayer and readiness to obey. +It is by this sovereign conviction that men are called +to preach, to go to foreign fields as missionaries, +to devote their time, talents, money, and lives to +God’s work for the bodies and souls of men.</p> + +<p>5. Why do people seek for guidance and not find it?</p> + +<p>(a) Because they do not diligently study God’s +word, and seek to be filled with its truths and principles. +They neglect the cultivation of their minds and hearts +in the school of Christ, and so miss Divine guidance. +One of the mightiest men of God now living used to +carry his Bible with him into the coal mine when only +a boy, and spent his spare time filling his mind and +heart with its heavenly truths, and so prepared himself +to be divinely led in mighty labours for God.</p> + +<p>(b) They do not humbly accept the daily providences, +the circumstances, and conditions of their everyday +life as a part of God’s present plan for them; +as His school in which He would train them for greater +things; as His vineyard in which He would have them +diligently labour.</p> + +<p>A young woman imagined she was called to devote herself +entirely to saving souls; but under the searching +training through which she had to pass saw her selfishness, +and she said she would have to return home, and live +a holy life there, and seek to get her family saved—­something +which she had utterly neglected—­before +she could go into the work. If we are not faithful +at home, or in the shop, or mill, or store where we +work, we shall miss God’s way for us.</p> + +<p>(c) Because they are not teachable, and are unwilling +to receive instruction from other Christians. They +are not humble-minded.</p> + +<p>(d) Because they do not wait on God, and listen and +heed the inner leadings of the Holy Spirit. They are +self-willed; they want their own way. Some one has +said, “That which is often asked of God is not +so much His will and way, as His approval of our way.” +And another has said: “God’s guidance is +plain, when we are true.” If we promptly and +gladly obey, we shall not miss the way. Paul said +of himself, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly +vision.” He obeyed God at all costs, and so the +Holy Spirit could guide him.</p> + +<p>(e) Because of fear and unbelief. It was this fearfulness +of unbelief that caused the Israelites to turn back, +and not go into Canaan when Caleb and Joshua assured +them that God would help them to possess the land. +They lost sight of God, and feared the giants and +walled cities, and so missed God’s way for them +and perished in the wilderness.</p> + +<p>(f) Because they do not take everything promptly and +confidently to God in prayer.</p> + +<p>Paul tells us to be “instant in prayer”; +and I am persuaded that it is slowness and delay to +pray, and sloth and sleepiness in prayer, that rob +God’s children of the glad assurance of His +guidance in all things.</p> + +<p>(g) Because of impatience and haste. Some of God’s +plans for us unfold slowly, and we must patiently +and calmly wait on Him in faith and faithfulness, +assured that in due time He will make plain His way +for us, if our faith fail not. It is never God’s +will that we should get into a headlong hurry; but +that, with patient steadfastness, we should learn +to stand still when the pillar of cloud and fire does +not move, and that with loving confidence and glad +promptness we should strike our tents and march forward +when He leads.</p> + +<p> “When we cannot see our way,<br> + Let us trust and still obey;<br> + He who bids us forward go,<br> + Cannot fail the way to show.<br> + Though the sea be deep and wide,<br> + Though a passage seem denied;<br> + Fearless, let us still proceed,<br> + Since the Lord vouchsafes to lead.”</p> + +<p>Finally, we may rest assured that the Holy Spirit +never leads His people to do anything that is wrong, +or that is contrary to the will of God as revealed +in the Bible. He never leads anyone to be impolite +and discourteous. “Be courteous” is a Divine +command. He would have us respect the minor graces +of gentle, kindly manners, as well as the great laws +of holiness and righteousness.</p> + +<p>He may sometimes lead us in ways that are hard for +flesh and blood, and that bring to us sorrow and loss +in this life. He led Jesus into the wilderness to +be sore tried by the Devil, and to Pilate’s +judgment hall, and to the cross. He led Paul in ways +that meant imprisonment, stonings, whippings, hunger +and cold, and bitter persecution and death. But He +upheld Paul until he cried out: “I take pleasure +in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in +persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake.” +“Yea,” said he, “I glory in my infirmities, +that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” +Hallelujah! Oh, to be thus led by our Heavenly Guide!</p> + +<p> “He leadeth me! Oh, blessed +thought!<br> + Oh, words with heavenly comfort +fraught!<br> + Whate’er I do, where’er +I be,<br> + Still ’tis God’s +hand that leadeth me.</p> + +<p> “Sometimes ’mid scenes +of deepest gloom,<br> + Sometimes where Eden’s +bowers bloom,<br> + By waters still, o’er +troubled sea,<br> + Still ’tis God’s +hand that leadeth me.</p> + +<p> “Lord, I will clasp Thy hand +in mine,<br> + Nor ever murmur nor repine,<br> + Content, whatever lot I see,<br> + Since ’tis my God that +leadeth me.</p> + +<p> “And when my task on earth +is done,<br> + When by Thy grace the victory’s +won,<br> + E’en death’s cold +wave I will not flee,<br> + Since God through Jordan leadeth +me.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter9"></a> +<h1>IX.</h1> + +<h2>The Meek and the Lowly Heart</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>I know a man whose daily prayer for years was that +he might be meek and lowly in heart as was his Master. +“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me,” +said Jesus; “for I am meek and lowly in heart.”</p> + +<p>How lowly Jesus was! He was the Lord of life and glory. +He made the worlds, and upholds them by His word of +power (John i., Hebrews i.). But He humbled Himself, +and became man, and was born of the Virgin in a manger +among the cattle. He lived among the common people, +and worked at the carpenter’s bench. And then, +anointed with the Holy Spirit, He went about doing +good, preaching the Gospel to the poor, and ministering +to the manifold needs of the sick and sinful and sorrowing. +He touched the lepers; He was the Friend of publicans +and sinners. His whole life was a ministry of mercy +to those who most needed Him. He humbled Himself to +our low estate. He was a King who came “lowly, +and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of +an ass” (Zech. ix. 9). He was a King, but His +crown was of thorns, and a cross was His throne.</p> + +<p>What a picture Paul gives us of the mind and heart +of Jesus! He exhorts the Philippians, saying, “Let +nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in +lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than +themselves”; and then he adds, “Let this +mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, +being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to +be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, +and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made +in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion +as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto +death, even the death of the cross.”</p> + +<p>Now, when the Holy Spirit finds His way into the heart +of a man, the Spirit of Jesus has come to that man, +and leads him to the same meekness of heart and lowly +service that were seen in the Master.</p> + +<p>Ambition for place and power and money and fame vanishes, +and in its place is a consuming desire to be good +and do good, to accomplish in full the blessed, the +beneficent will of God.</p> + +<p>Some time ago I met a woman who, as a trained nurse +in Paris, nursing rich, English-speaking foreigners, +received pay that in a few years would have made her +independently wealthy; but the spirit of Jesus came +into her heart, and she is now nursing the poor, and +giving her life to them, and doing for them service +the most loathsome and exacting, and doing it with +a smiling face, for her food and clothes.</p> + +<p>Some able men in one of our largest American cities +lost their spiritual balance, cut themselves loose +from all other Christians, and made for a time quite +a religious stir among many good people. They were +very clear and powerful in their presentation of certain +phases of truth, but they were also very strong, if +not bitter, in their denunciations of all existing +religious organisations. They attacked the churches +and The Salvation Army, pointing out what they considered +wrong so skilfully, and with such professions of sanctity, +that many people were made most dissatisfied with the +churches and with The Army.</p> + +<p>An Army Captain listened to them, and was greatly +moved by their fervour, their burning appeals, their +religious ecstasy, and their denunciations of the +lukewarmness of other Christians, including The Army. +She began to wonder if after all they were not right, +and whether or not the Holy Spirit was amongst us. +Her heart was full of distress, and she cried to God. +And then the vision of our Slum Officers rose before +her eyes. She saw their devotion, their sacrifice, +their lowly, hidden service, year after year, among +the poor and ignorant and vicious, and she said to +herself, “Is not this the Spirit of Jesus? Would +these men, who denounce us so, be willing to forgo +their religious ecstasies and spend their lives in +such lowly, unheralded service?” And the mists +that had begun to blind her eyes were swept away, and +she saw Jesus still amongst us going about doing good +in the person of our Slum Officers and of all who +for His name’s sake sacrifice their time and +money and strength to bless and save their fellow-men.</p> + +<p>You who have visions of glory and rapturous delight, +and so count yourselves filled with the Spirit, do +these visions lead you to virtue and to lowly, loving +service? If not, take heed to yourselves, lest, exalted +like Capernaum to Heaven, you are at last cast down +to Hell. Thank God for the mounts of transfiguration +where we behold His glory! but down below in the valley +are children possessed of devils, and to them He would +have us go with the glory of the mount on our faces, +and lowly love and vigorous faith in our hearts, and +clean hands ready for any service. He would have us +give ourselves to them; and if we love Him, if we +follow Him, if we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit, +we will.</p> + +<p>A Captain used to slip out of bed early in the morning +to pray, and then black his own and his Lieutenant’s +boots, and God mightily blessed him. Recently I saw +him, now a Commissioner, with thousands of Officers +and Soldiers under his command, at an outing in the +woods by the lake shore, looking after poor and forgotten +Soldiers, and giving them food with his own hand. Like +the Lord, his eyes seemed to be in every place beholding +opportunities to do good, and his feet and hands always +followed his eyes; and this is the fruit of the indwelling +Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter10"></a> +<h1>X.</h1> + +<h2>Hope</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Are you ever cast down and depressed in spirit? Listen +to Paul: “Now, the God of hope fill you with +all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound +in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” +(Romans xv. 13). What cheer is in those words! They +ring like the shout of a triumph.</p> + +<p>1. God Himself is “the God of hope.” There +is no gloom, no depression, no wasting sickness of +deferred hope in Him. He is a brimming fountain and +ocean of hope eternally, and He is our God. He is +our Hope.</p> + +<p>2. Out of His infinite fullness He is to fill us; +not half fill us, but fill us with joy, “all +joy,” hallelujah! “and peace.”</p> + +<p>3. And this is not by some condition or means that +is so high and difficult that we cannot perform our +part, but it is simply “in believing “—­something +which the little child or the aged philosopher, the +poor man and the rich man, the ignorant and the learned +can do. And the result will be:—­</p> + +<p>4. Abounding “hope through the power of the +Holy Ghost.” And what power is that? If it is +physical power, then the power of a million Niagaras +and flowing oceans and rushing worlds is as nothing +compared to it. If it is mental power, then the power +of Plato and Bacon and Milton and Shakespeare and +Newton is as the light of a fire-fly to the sun when +compared to it. If it is spiritual power, then there +is nothing with which it can be compared. But suppose +it is all three in one, infinite and eternal! This +is the power, throbbing with love and mercy, to which +we are to bring our little hearts by living faith, +and God will fill us with joy and peace and hope by +the incoming of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>God’s people are a hopeful people. They hope +in God, with whom there is no change, no weakness, +no decay. In the darkest night and the fiercest storm +they still hope in Him, though it may be feebly. But +He would have His people “abound in hope” +so that they should always be buoyant, triumphant.</p> + +<p>But how can this be in a world such as this? We are +surrounded by awful, mysterious, and merciless forces, +that at any moment may overwhelm us. The fire may +burn us, the water may drown us, the hurricane may +sweep us away, friends may desert us, foes may master +us. There is the depression that comes from failing +health, from poverty, from overwork and sleepless nights +and constant care, from thwarted plans, disappointed +ambitions, slighted love, and base ingratitude. Old +age comes on with its grey hairs, failing strength, +dimness of sight, dullness of hearing, tottering step, +shortness of breath, and general weakness and decay. +The friends of youth die, and a new, strange, pushing +generation that knows not the old man, comes elbowing +him aside and taking his place. Under some blessed +outpouring of the Spirit the work of God revives, +vile sinners are saved, Zion puts on her beautiful +garments, reforms of all kind advance, the desert +blossoms as the rose, the waste place becomes a fruitful +field, and the millennium seems just at hand; and then +the spiritual tide recedes, the forces of evil are +emboldened, they mass themselves and again sweep over +the heritage of the Lord, leaving it waste and desolate, +and the battle must be fought over again.</p> + +<p>How can one be always hopeful, always abounding in +hope, in such a world? Well, hallelujah! it is possible +“through the power of the Holy Ghost,” +but only through His power; and this power will not +fail so long as we fix our eyes on eternal things and +believe.</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit, dwelling within, turns our eyes from +that which is temporal to that which is eternal; from +the trial itself to God’s purpose in the trial; +from the present pain to the precious promise.</p> + +<p>I am now writing in a little city made rich by vast +potteries. If the dull, heavy clay on the potter’s +wheel and in the fiery oven could think and speak, +it would doubtless cry out against the fierce agony; +but if it could foresee the purpose of the potter, +and the thing of use and beauty he meant to make it, +it would nestle low under his hand and rejoice in +hope.</p> + +<p>We are clay in the hand of the Divine Potter, but +we can think and speak, and in some measure understand +His high purpose in us. It is the work of the Holy +Spirit to make us understand. And if we will not be +dull and senseless and unbelieving, He will illuminate +us and fill us with peaceful, joyous hope.</p> + +<p>1. He would reveal to us that our Heavenly Potter +has Himself been on the wheel and in the fiery furnace, +learning obedience and being fashioned into “the +Captain of our salvation” by the things which +He suffered. When we are tempted and tried, and tempest-tossed, +He raises our hope by showing us Jesus suffering and +sympathising with us, tempted in all points as we are, +and so able and wise and willing to help us in our +struggle and conflict (Hebrews ii. 9-18). He assures +us that Jesus, into whose hands is committed all power +in Heaven and earth, is our elder Brother, “touched +with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews +iv. 15), and He encourages us to rest in Him and not +be afraid; and so we abound in hope, through His power +as we believe.</p> + +<p>2. He reveals to us the eternal purpose of God in +our trials and difficulties. Listen to Paul: “All +things work together for good to them that love God.” +“We know <i>this</i>,” says Paul (Romans +viii. 28). But how can this be? Ah! there is where +faith must be exercised. It is “in believing” +that we “abound in hope through the power of +the Holy Ghost.”</p> + +<p>God’s wisdom and ability to make all things +work together for our good are not to be measured +by our understanding, but to be firmly held by our +faith. My child is in serious difficulty and does +not know how to help himself; but I say, “Leave +it to me.” He may not understand how I am to +help him, but he trusts me, and rejoices in hope. +We are God’s dear children, and He knows how +to help us, and make all things work together for +our good, if we will only commit ourselves to Him +in faith.</p> + +<p> “Thou art as much His care as if +beside<br> + Nor man nor angel lived in Heaven +or earth;<br> + Thus sunbeams pour alike their glorious +tide,<br> + To light up worlds, or wake an insect’s +mirth.”</p> + +<p>Again, afflictions overtake us, and now the Holy Spirit +encourages our hope and makes it to abound by such +promises as these: “Our light affliction, which +is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding +and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at +the things which are seen, but at the things which +are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, +but the things which are not seen are eternal” +(2 Cor. iv. 17, 18). But such a promise as that only +mocks us if we do not believe. “In all their +affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His +presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He +redeemed them; and He bare them, and He carried them +all the days of old” (Isaiah lxiii. 9). And +He is just the same to-day. To some He says: “I +have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” +(Isaiah xlviii 10), and nestling down into His will +and “believing,” they “abound in +hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.”</p> + +<p>He turns our eyes back upon Job in his loss and pain; +upon Joseph sold into Egyptian slavery; Daniel in +the lions’ den; the three Hebrews in the burning +fiery furnace, and Paul in prison and shipwreck and +manifold perils; and, showing us their steadfastness +and their final triumph, He prompts us to hope in God.</p> + +<p>When weakness of body overtakes us, He encourages +us with such assurances as these: “My flesh +and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my +heart, and my portion for ever” (Psalm lxxiii. +26), and the words of Paul: “Though our outward +man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” +(2 Cor. iv. 16).</p> + +<p>When old age comes creeping on apace, He has promised +to meet the need that our hope fail not. Listen to +David! He prays: “Cast me not off in the time +of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.... +Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake +me not; until I have showed Thy strength unto this +generation, and Thy power to every one that is to +come” (Psalm lxxi. 9, 18). And through Isaiah +the Lord replies: “Even to your old age I am +He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have +made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will +deliver you” (Isaiah xlvi. 4). And David cries +out, “The righteous shall flourish like the +palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those +that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish +in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth +fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing, +to show that the Lord is upright” (Psalm xcii. +12-15).</p> + +<p>These are sample promises of which the Bible is full, +and which have been adapted by infinite wisdom and +love to meet us at every point of doubt and fear and +need, that, in believing them, we may have a steadfast +and glad hope in God. He is pledged to help us. He +says: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be +not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen +thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee +with the right hand of My righteousness” (Isaiah +xli. 10).</p> + +<p>When all God’s waves and billows seemed to sweep +over David, and his soul was bowed within him, three +times he cried out: “Why art thou cast down, +O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope +thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help +of His countenance” (Psalm xlii. 5). And Jeremiah, +remembering the wormwood and the gall, and the deep +mire of the dungeon into which they had plunged him, +and from which he had scarcely been delivered, said: +“It is good that a man should both hope and +quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam. +iii. 26).</p> + +<p>When the Holy Spirit is come, He brings to remembrance +these precious promises, and makes them living words; +and, if we believe, the whole heaven of our soul shall +be lighted up with abounding hope. Hallelujah! It +is only through ignorance of God’s promises, +or through weak and wavering faith, that hope is dimmed. +Oh, that we may heed the still small voice of the +Heavenly Comforter, and steadfastly, joyously believe!</p> + +<p> “My hope is built on nothing less<br> + Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;<br> + When all around my soul gives way,<br> + He then is all my Hope and Stay.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter11"></a> +<h1>XI.</h1> + +<h2>The Holy Spirit’s Substitute for Gossip and Evil-Speaking</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>The other day I heard a man of God say: “We +cannot bridle the tongues of the people among whom +we live: they will talk”; and by talk he meant +gossip and criticism and fault-finding.</p> + +<p> “You never can tell when you send +a word—­<br> + Like an arrow shot from a bow<br> + By an archer blind—­be it cruel +or kind,<br> + Just where it will chance to go.<br> + It may pierce the breast of your dearest +friend,<br> + Tipped with its poison or balm:<br> + To a stranger’s heart in life’s +great mart<br> + It may carry its pain or its calm.”</p> + +<p>The wise mother, when she finds her little boy playing +with a sharp knife, or the looking-glass, or some +dainty dish, does not snatch it away with a slap on +his cheek or harsh words, but quietly and gently substitutes +a safer and more interesting toy, and so avoids a +storm.</p> + +<p>A sensible father who finds his boy reading a book +of dangerous tendency, will kindly point out its character +and substitute a better book that is equally interesting.</p> + +<p>When children want to spend their evenings on the +street, thoughtful and intelligent parents will seek +to make their evenings at home more healthfully attractive.</p> + +<p>When a man seeks to rid his mind of evil and hurtful +thoughts, he will find it wise to follow Paul’s +exhortation to the Philippians: “Brethren, whatsoever +things are true,... honest,... just,... pure,... lovely,... +of good report;... if there be any praise, think on +these things” (Phil. iv. 8).</p> + +<p>Any man who faithfully, patiently, and persistently +accepts this programme of Paul’s will find his +evil thoughts vanishing away.</p> + +<p>And this is the Holy Spirit’s method: He has +a pleasant and safe substitute for gossip and fault-finding +and slander.</p> + +<p>Here it is: “Be filled with the Spirit: speaking +to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, +singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; +giving thanks always for all things unto God and the +Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” +(Eph. v. 18-20). This is certainly a fruit of being +filled with the Spirit.</p> + +<p>Many years ago the Lord gave me a blessed revival +in a little village in which nearly every soul in +the place, as well as farmers from the surrounding +country, were converted. One result was that they +now had no time for gossip and doubtful talk about +their neighbours. They were all talking about religion +and rejoicing in the things of the Lord. If they met +each other on the street, or in some shop or store, +they praised the Lord, and encouraged each other to +press on in the heavenly way. If they met a sinner, +they tenderly besought him to be reconciled to God, +to give up his sins, “flee from the wrath to +come,” and start at once for Heaven. If they +met in each other’s houses, they gathered around +the organ or the piano and sang hymns and songs, and +did not part till they had united in prayer.</p> + +<p>There was no criticising of their neighbours, no grumbling +and complaining about the weather, no fault-finding +with their lot in life, or their daily surroundings +and circumstances. Their conversation was joyous, +cheerful, and helpful to one another. Nor was it forced +and out of place, but rather it was the natural, spontaneous +outflow of loving, humble, glad hearts filled with +the Spirit, in union with Jesus, and in love and sympathy +with their fellow-men.</p> + +<p>And this is, I think, our Heavenly Father’s +ideal of social and spiritual intercourse for His +children on earth. He would not have us separate ourselves +from each other and shut ourselves up in convents +and monasteries in austere asceticism on the one hand, +nor would He have us light and foolish, or fault-finding +and censorious on the other hand, but sociable, cheerful, +and full of tender, considerate love.</p> + +<p>On the day of Pentecost, when they were all filled +with the Holy Ghost and a multitude were converted, +we read that “they, continuing daily with one +accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house +to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness +of heart, praising God, and having favour with all +the people” (Acts ii. 46, 47). This is a sample +of the brotherly love and unity which our Heavenly +Father would have throughout the whole earth; but +how the breath of gossip and evil-speaking would have +marred this heavenly fellowship and separated these +“chief friends”!</p> + +<p> “Lord! subdue our selfish will;<br> + Each to each our tempers suit<br> + By Thy modulating skill,<br> + Heart to heart, as lute to lute.”</p> + +<p>Let no one suppose, however, that the Holy Spirit +accomplishes this heavenly work by some overwhelming +baptism which does away with the need of our co-operation. +He does not override us, but works with us; and we +must intelligently and determinedly work with Him +in this matter.</p> + +<p>People often fall into idle and hurtful gossip and +evil-speaking, not so much from ill-will, as from +old habit, as a wagon falls into a rut. Or they drift +into it with the current of conversation about them. +Or they are beguiled into it by a desire to say something, +and be pleasant and entertaining.</p> + +<p>But when the Holy Spirit comes, He lifts us out of +the old ruts, and we must follow Him with care lest +we fall into them again, possibly never more to escape. +He gives us life and power to stem the adverse currents +about us, but we must exercise ourselves not to be +swept downward by them. He does not destroy the desire +to please, but He subordinates it to the desire to +help and bless, and we must stir ourselves up to do +this.</p> + +<p>When Miss Havergal was asked to sing and play before +a worldly company, she sang a sweet song about Jesus, +and, without displeasing anybody, greatly blessed +the company.</p> + +<p>At a breakfast party John Fletcher told his experience +so sweetly and naturally that all hearts were stirred, +the Holy Ghost fell upon the company, and they ended +with a glorious prayer meeting.</p> + +<p>William Bramwell used at meals to steadily and persistently +turn the conversation into spiritual channels to the +blessing of all who were present, so that they had +two meals—­one for the body and one for +the soul.</p> + +<p>To do this wisely and helpfully requires thought and +prayer and a fixed purpose, and a tender, loving heart +filled with the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>I know a mother who seeks to have a brief season of +prayer and a text of Scripture just before going to +dinner to prepare her heart to guide the conversation +along spiritual highways.</p> + +<p>Are you careful and have you victory in this matter, +my comrade? If not, seek it just now in simple, trustful +prayer, and the Lord who loves you will surely answer, +and will be your helper from this time forth. He surely +will. Believe just now, and henceforth “let +your conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ.”</p> + +<p> “I ask Thee, ever blessed Lord,<br> + That I may never speak a word,<br> + Of envy born, or passion stirred.</p> + +<p> “First, true to Thee in heart and +mind,<br> + Then always to my neighbour kind,<br> + By Thy good hand to good inclined.</p> + +<p> “Oh, save from words that bear a +sting,<br> + That pain to any brother bring:<br> + Inbreathe Thy calm in everything.</p> + +<p> “Let love within my heart prevail,<br> + To rule my words when thoughts assail,<br> + That, hid in Thee, I may not fail.</p> + +<p> “I know, my Lord, Thy power within<br> + Can save from all the power of sin;<br> + In Thee let every word begin.</p> + +<p> “Should I be silent? Keep me still,<br> + Glad waiting on my Master’s will:<br> + Thy message through my lips fulfil.</p> + +<p> “Give me Thy words when I should +speak,<br> + For words of Thine are never weak,<br> + But break the proud, but raise the meek.</p> + +<p> “Into Thy lips all grace is poured,<br> + Speak Thou through me, Eternal Word,<br> + Of thought, of heart, of lips the Lord.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter12"></a> +<h1>XII.</h1> + +<h2>The Sin Against the Holy Ghost</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>God is love, and the Holy Spirit is ceaselessly striving +to make this love known in our hearts, work out God’s +purposes of love in our lives, and transform and transfigure +our character by love. And so we are solemnly warned +against resisting the Spirit, and almost tearfully +and always tenderly exhorted to “quench not the +Spirit,” and to “grieve not the Holy Spirit +of God, whereby,” says the Apostle, “ye +are sealed unto the day of redemption.”</p> + +<p>There is one great sin against which Jesus warned +the Jews, as a sin never to be forgiven in this world +nor in that which is to come. That was blasphemy against +the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>That there is such a sin, Jesus teaches in Matthew +xii. 31, 32, Mark iii. 28-30, and Luke xii. 10. And +it may be that this is the sin referred to in Hebrews +vi. 4-6; x. 29.</p> + +<p>Since many of God’s dear children have fallen +into dreadful distress through fear that they had +committed this sin, it may be helpful for us to study +carefully as to what constitutes it.</p> + +<p>Jesus was casting out devils, and Mark tells us that +“the scribes which came down from Jerusalem +said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the +devils casteth He out devils.” To this Jesus +replied with gracious kindness and searching logic: +“How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom +be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. +And if a house be divided against itself, it cannot +stand. And if Satan rise up against himself and be +divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can +enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his +goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and +then he will spoil his house.”</p> + +<p>In this quiet reply we see that Jesus does not rail +against them, nor flatly deny their base assertion +that He does His miracles by the power of the Devil, +but shows how logically false must be their statement. +And then, with grave authority, and, I think, with +solemn tenderness in His voice and in His eyes, He +adds, “Verily I say unto you, All sins shall +be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies +wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: but he that +shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never +forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation”; +or, as the Revised Version puts it, “is guilty +of an eternal sin”; and then Mark adds, “because +they said, He hath an unclean spirit” (Mark +iii. 22-30).</p> + +<p>Jesus came into the world to reveal God’s truth +and love to men, and to save them, and men are saved +by believing in Him. But how could the men of His +day, who saw Him working at the carpenter’s +bench, and living the life of an ordinary man of humble +toil and daily temptation and trial, believe His stupendous +claim to be the only-begotten Son of God, the Saviour +of the world, and the final Judge of all men? Any +wilful and proud impostor could make such a claim. +But men <i>could</i> not and <i>ought</i> not to believe +such an assertion unless the claim were supported by +ungainsayable evidence. This evidence Jesus began +to give, not only in the holy life which He lived +and the pure Gospel He preached, but in the miracles +He wrought, the blind eyes He opened, the sick He healed, +the hungry thousands He fed, the seas He stilled, the +dead He raised to life again, and the devils He cast +out of bound and harassed souls.</p> + +<p>The Scribes and Pharisees witnessed these miracles, +and were compelled to admit these signs and wonders. +Nicodemus, one of their number, said to Jesus, “Rabbi, +we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for +no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except +God be with him” (John iii. 2). Would they now +admit His claim to be the Son of God, their promised +and long-looked-for Messiah? They were thoughtful +men and very religious, but not spiritual. The Gospel +He preached was Spirit and life; it appealed to their +conscience and revealed their sin, and to acknowledge +Him was to admit that they themselves were wrong. It +meant submission to His authority, the surrender of +their wills, and a change of front in their whole +inner and outer life. This meant moral and spiritual +revolution in each man’s heart and life, and +to this they would not submit. And so to avoid such +plain inconsistency, they must discredit His miracles; +and since they could not deny them, they declared +that He wrought them by the power of the Devil.</p> + +<p>Jesus worked these signs and wonders by the power +of the Holy Spirit, that he might win their confidence, +and that they might reasonably believe and be saved. +But they refused to believe, and in their malignant +obstinacy heaped scorn upon Him, accusing Him of being +in league with the Devil; and how could they be saved? +This was the sin against the Holy Spirit against which +Jesus warned them. It was not so much one act of sin, +as a deep-seated, stubborn rebellion against God that +led them to choose darkness rather than light, and +so to blaspheme against the Spirit of truth and light. +It was sin full and ripe and ready for the harvest.</p> + +<p>Some one has said that “this sin cannot be forgiven, +not because God is unwilling to forgive, but because +one who thus sins against the Holy Spirit has put +himself where no power can soften his heart or change +his nature. A man may misuse his eyes and yet see; +but whosoever puts them out can never see again. One +may misdirect his compass, and turn it aside from +the North Pole by a magnet or piece of iron, and it +may recover and point right again; but whosoever destroys +the compass itself has lost his guide at sea.”</p> + +<p>Many of God’s dear children, honest souls, have +been persuaded that they have committed this awful +sin. Indeed, I once thought that I myself had done +so, and for twenty-eight days I felt that, like Jonah, +I was “in the belly of hell.” But God, +in love and tender mercy, drew me out of the horrible +pit of doubt and fear, and showed me that this is +a sin committed only by those who, in spite of all +evidence, harden their hearts in unbelief, and to +shield themselves in their sins deny and blaspheme +the Lord.</p> + +<p>Dr. Daniel Steele tells of a Jew who was asked, “Is +it that you <i>cannot</i>, or that you <i>will not</i> +believe?” The Jew passionately replied, “We +<i>will</i> not, we <i>will</i> not believe.”</p> + +<p>This was wilful refusal and rejection of light, and +in that direction lies hardness of heart beyond recovery, +fullness of sin, and final impenitence, which are +unpardonable.</p> + +<p>Doubtless many through resistance to the Holy Spirit +come to this awful state of heart; but those troubled, +anxious souls who think they have committed this sin +are not usually among the number.</p> + +<p>An Army Officer in Canada was in the midst of a glorious +revival, when one night a gentleman arose and with +deep emotion urged the young people present to yield +themselves to God, accept Jesus as their Saviour, +and receive the Holy Spirit. He told them that he +had once been a Christian, but that he had not walked +in the light, and, consequently, had sinned against +the Holy Spirit, and could never more be pardoned. +Then, with all earnest tenderness, he exhorted them +to be warned by his sad state, and not to harden their +hearts against the gracious influences, and entreated +them to yield to the Saviour. Suddenly the scales +of doubt dropped from his eyes, and he saw that he +had not in his inmost heart rejected Jesus; that he +had not committed the unpardonable sin; that</p> + +<p> “The love of God is broader<br> + Than the measure of man’s +mind:<br> + And the heart of the Eternal<br> + Is most wonderfully kind.”</p> + +<p>And in an instant his heart was filled with light +and love and peace, and sweet assurance that Christ +Jesus was his Saviour, even his.</p> + +<p>In one meeting, I have known three people who thought +they had committed this sin, and were bowed with grief +and fear, to come to the penitent-form and find deliverance.</p> + +<p>The poet Cowper was plunged into unutterable gloom +by the conviction that he had committed this awful +sin; but God tenderly brought him into the light and +sweet comforts of the Holy Spirit again, and doubtless +it was in the sense of such lovingkindness that he +wrote:</p> + +<p> “There is a fountain filled with +blood,<br> + Drawn from Emanuel’s veins;<br> + And sinners plunged beneath that flood<br> + Lose all their guilty stains.”</p> + +<p>John Bunyan was also afflicted with horrible fears +that he had committed the unpardonable sin, and in +his little book entitled, “Grace Abounding to +the Chief of Sinners” (a book which I would +earnestly recommend to all soul-winners), he tells +how he was delivered from his doubts and fears and +was filled once more with the joy of the Lord. There +are portions of his “Pilgrim’s Progress” +which are to be interpreted in the light of this grievous +experience.</p> + +<p>Those who think they have committed this sin may generally +be assured that they have not.</p> + +<p>1. Their hearts are usually very tender, while this +sin must harden the heart past all feeling.</p> + +<p>2. They are full of sorrow and shame for having neglected +God’s grace and trifled with the Saviour’s +dying words, but such sorrow could not exist in a +heart so fully given over to sin that pardon was impossible.</p> + +<p>3. God says, “Whosoever will may come”; +and if they find it in their hearts to come, they +will not be cast out, but freely pardoned and received +with loving kindness through the merits of Jesus’ +blood. God’s promise will not fail, His faithfulness +is established in the heavens. Bless His holy name! +Those who have committed this sin are full of evil, +and do not care to come, and will not, and, therefore, +are never pardoned. Their sin is eternal.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter13"></a> +<h1>XIII.</h1> + +<h2>Offences Against the Holy Ghost</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>One day, in a fit of boyish temper, I spoke hot words +of anger, somewhat unjustly, against another person, +and this deeply grieved my mother. She said but little, +and though her sweet face has mouldered many years +beneath the Southern daisies, her look of grief I +can still see across the years of a third of a century. +And that is the one sad memory of my childhood. A +stranger might have been amused or incensed at my words, +but mother was grieved—­grieved to her heart +by my lack of generous, self-forgetful, thoughtful +love.</p> + +<p>We can anger a stranger or an enemy, but it is only +a friend we grieve. The Holy Spirit is such a Friend, +more tender and faithful than a mother; and shall +we carelessly offend Him, and estrange ourselves from +Him in spite of His love?</p> + +<p>There is a sense in which every sin is against the +Holy Ghost. Of course, not every such sin is unpardonable, +but the tendency of all sin is in that direction, +and we are only safe as we avoid the very beginnings +of sin. Only as we “walk in the Spirit” +are we “free from the law of sin and death” +(Romans viii. 2). Therefore, it is infinitely important +that we beware of offences against the Spirit, “lest +any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of +sin” (Hebrews iii. 13).</p> + +<p>Grieving the Holy Spirit is a very common and a very +sad offence of professing Christians, and it is to +this that must be attributed much of the weakness +and ignorance and joylessness of so many followers +of Christ.</p> + +<p>And He is grieved, as was my mother, by the unloving +speech and spirit of God’s children.</p> + +<p>In his letters to the Ephesians, Paul says, “Let +no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, +but that which is good to the use of edifying, that +it may minister grace unto the hearers.” And +then he adds: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit +of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. +Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, +and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all +malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, +forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s +sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of +God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ +also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us” +(Eph. iv. 29-v. 2).</p> + +<p>What does Paul teach us here? That it is not by some +huge wickedness, some Judas-like betrayal, some tempting +and lying to the Holy Ghost, as did Ananias and Sapphira +(Acts v. 1-9), that we grieve Him, but by that which +most people count little and unimportant; by talk +that corrupts instead of blessing and building up +those that hear, by gossip, by bitterness, and uncharitable +criticisms and fault-findings. This was the sin of +the elder son when the prodigal returned, and it was +by this he pierced with grief the kind old father’s +heart.</p> + +<p>By getting in a rage, by loud, angry talking and evil-speaking +and petty malice, by unkindness and hard-heartedness +and an unforgiving spirit, we grieve Him. In a word, +by not walking through the world as in our Father’s +house, and among our neighbours and friends as among +His dear children; by not loving tenderly and making +kindly sacrifices for one another, He is grieved. +And this is not a matter of little importance. It may +have sadly momentous consequences.</p> + +<p>It is a bitter, cruel, and often an irreparable thing +to trifle with a valuable earthly friendship. How +much more when the friendship is heavenly? when the +Friend is our Lord and Saviour, our Creator and Redeemer, +our Governor and Judge, our Teacher, Guide, and God? +When we trifle with a friend’s wishes—­especially +when such wishes are all in perfect harmony with and +for our highest possible good—­we may not +estrange the friend from us, but we estrange ourselves +from our friend. Our hearts grow cold toward him, +though his heart may be breaking with longing toward +us.</p> + +<p>The more Saul ill-treated David, the more he hated +David.</p> + +<p>Such estrangement may lead, little by little, to yet +greater sin, to strange hardness of heart, to doubts +and unbelief, and backslidings and denial of the Lord.</p> + +<p>The cure for all this is a clean heart full of sweet +and gentle, self-forgetful, generous love. Then we +shall be “followers of God as dear children,” +then we shall “walk in love as Christ loved +us, and gave Himself for us.”</p> + +<p>But there is another offence, that of quenching the +Spirit, which accounts for the comparative darkness +and deadness of many of God’s children.</p> + +<p>In I Thess. v. 16-19 the Apostle says: “Rejoice +evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give +thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus +concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.”</p> + +<p>When will the Lord’s dear children learn that +the religion of Jesus is a lowly thing, and that it +is the little foxes that spoil the vines? Does not +the Apostle here teach that it is not by some desperate, +dastardly deed that we quench the Spirit, but simply +by neglecting to rejoice and pray, and give thanks +at all times and for all things?</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to blot the sun out of the heavens +to keep the sunlight out of your house—­just +close the blinds and draw the curtains; nor do you +pour barrels of water on the flames to quench the +fire—­just shut off the draught; nor do you +dynamite the city reservoir and destroy all the mains +and pipes to cut off your supply of sparkling water, +but just refrain from turning on the main.</p> + +<p>So you do not need to do some great evil, some deadly +sin, to quench the Spirit. Just cease to rejoice, +through fear of man and of being peculiar; be prim +and proper as a white and polished gravestone; let +gushing joy be curbed; neglect to pray when you feel +a gentle pull in your heart to get alone with the Lord; +omit giving hearty thanks for all God’s tender +mercies, faithful discipline and loving chastenings, +and soon you will find the Spirit quenched. He will +no longer spring up joyously like a well of living +water within you.</p> + +<p>But give the Spirit a vent, an opening, a chance, +and He will rise within you and flood your soul with +light and love and joy.</p> + +<p>Some years ago a sanctified woman of clear experience +went alone to keep her daily hour with God; but, to +her surprise, it seemed that she could not find Him, +either in prayer or in His word. She searched her +heart for evidence of sin, but the Spirit showed her +nothing contrary to God in her mind, heart, or will. +She searched her memory for any breach of covenant, +any broken vows, any neglect, any omission, but could +find none.</p> + +<p>Then she asked the Lord to show her if there were +any duty unfulfilled, any command unnoticed, which +she might perform, and quick as thought came the often-read +words, “Rejoice evermore.” “Have +you done that this morning?”</p> + +<p>She had not. It had been a busy morning, and a well-spent +one, but so far there had been no definite rejoicing +in her heart, though the manifold riches and ground +for joy of all Christians were hers.</p> + +<p>At once she began to count her blessings and thank +the Lord for each one, and rejoice in Him for all +the way He had led her, and the gifts He had bestowed, +and in a very few minutes the Lord stood revealed +to her spiritual consciousness.</p> + +<p>She had not committed sin, nor resisted the Spirit, +but a failure to rejoice in Him who had daily loaded +her with benefits (Psalm lxviii. 19) had in a measure +quenched the Spirit. She had not turned the main, +and so her soul was not flooded with living waters. +She had not remembered the command: “Thou shalt +rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest +thine hand unto.” But that morning she learned +a lifelong lesson, and she has ever since safeguarded +her soul by obeying the many commands to “Rejoice +in the Lord.”</p> + +<p>Grieving and quenching the Spirit will not only leave +barren and desolate an individual soul, but it will +do so for a Corps, a church, a community, a whole +nation or continent. We see this illustrated on a +large scale by the long and weary Dark Ages, when +the light of the Gospel was almost extinguished, and +only here and there was the darkness broken by the +torch of truth held aloft by some humble, suffering +soul that had wept and prayed, and through painful +struggles had found the light.</p> + +<p>We see it also in those Corps, churches, communities, +and countries where revivals are unknown, or are a +thing of the past, where souls are not born into the +Kingdom, and where there is no joyous shout of victory +among the people of God.</p> + +<p>Grieving and quenching the Spirit may be done unintentionally +by lack of thought and prayer and hearty devotion +to the Lord Jesus; but they prepare the way and lead +to intentional and positive resistance to the Spirit.</p> + +<p>To resist the Spirit is to fight against Him.</p> + +<p>The sinner who, listening to the Gospel invitation, +and convicted of sin, refuses to submit to God in +true repentance and faith in Jesus, is resisting the +Holy Spirit. We have bold and striking historical +illustrations of the danger of resisting the Holy +Spirit in the disasters which befell Pharaoh, and the +terrible calamities which came upon Jerusalem, and +have for twenty centuries followed the Jews.</p> + +<p>The ten plagues that came upon Pharaoh and his people +were ten opportunities and open doors into God’s +favour and fellowship, which they themselves shut +by their stubborn resistance, only to be overtaken +by dreadful catastrophe.</p> + +<p>To the Jews, Stephen said: “Ye do always resist +the Holy Ghost” (Acts vii. 51); and the siege +and fall of Jerusalem, and the butchery and banishment +and enslavement of its inhabitants, and all the woes +that came upon the Jews, followed their rejection of +Jesus and the hardness of heart and spiritual blindness +which swiftly overtook them when they resisted all +the loving efforts and entreaties of His disciples +baptised with the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>And what on a large scale befalls nations and people, +on a small scale also befalls individuals. Those that +receive and obey the Lord are enlightened and blessed +and saved; those that resist and reject Him are sadly +left to themselves and surely swallowed up in destruction.</p> + +<p>Likewise the professing Christian who hears of heart-holiness +and cleansing from all sin as a blessing he may now +have by faith, and, convicted of his need of the blessing +and of God’s desire and willingness to bestow +it upon him now, refuses to seek it in whole-hearted +affectionate consecration and faith, is resisting +the Holy Spirit. And such resistance imperils the soul +beyond all possible computation.</p> + +<p>We see an example of this in the Israelites who were +brought out of Egypt with signs and wonders, and led +through the Red Sea and the wilderness to the borders +of Canaan, but, forgetting, refused to go over into +the land. In this they resisted the Holy Spirit in +His leadings as surely as did Pharaoh, and with quite +as disastrous results to themselves, perishing in their +evil way.</p> + +<p>For their sin was as much greater than his as their +light exceeded his.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of years later, Isaiah, writing of this time, +says: “In all their affliction He was afflicted, +and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love +and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, +and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, +and vexed His Holy Spirit; therefore He was turned +to be their enemy, and He fought against them” +(Isaiah lxiii. 9, 10).</p> + +<p>We see from this that Christians must beware and watch +and pray and walk softly with the Lord in glad obedience +and childlike faith, if they would escape the darkness +and dryness that result from grieving and quenching +the Spirit, and the dangers that surely come from +resisting Him.</p> + +<p> “Arm me with jealous care,<br> + As in Thy sight to live;<br> + And, Oh, Thy servant, Lord, prepare,<br> + A strict account to give.</p> + +<p> “Help me to watch and pray,<br> + And on Thyself rely,<br> + Assured if I my trust betray,<br> + I shall for ever die.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter14"></a> +<h1>XIV.</h1> + +<h2>The Holy Spirit and Sound Doctrine</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Is Jesus Christ divine? Is the Bible an inspired Book? +Is man a fallen creature who can be saved only through +the suffering and sacrifice of the Creator? Will there +be a resurrection of the dead, and a day in which +God will judge all the world by the Man Christ Jesus? +Is Satan a personal being, and is there a Hell in +which the wicked will be for ever punished?</p> + +<p>These are great doctrines which have been held and +taught by His followers since the days of Jesus and +His Apostles, and yet they are ever being attacked +and denied.</p> + +<p>Are they true? Or are they only fancies and falsehoods, +or figures of speech and distortions of truth? How +can we find truth and know it?</p> + +<p>Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is +come, He will guide you into all truth” (John +xvi. 13).</p> + +<p>What truth? Not the truth of the multiplication table, +or of physical science, or art, or secular history, +but spiritual truth—­the truth about God +and His will and character, and our relations to Him +in Christ—­that truth which is necessary +to salvation and holiness—­into all this +truth the Holy Spirit will guide us. “He shall +teach you all things,” said Jesus (John xiv. +26).</p> + +<p>How, then, shall we escape error and be “sound +in doctrine”? Only by the help of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>How do we know Jesus Christ is divine? Because the +Bible tells us so? Infinitely precious and important +is this revelation in the Bible; but not by this do +we know it. Because the Church teaches it in her creed, +and we have heard it from the catechism? Nothing taught +in any creed or catechism is of more vital importance; +but neither by this do we know it.</p> + +<p>How then? Listen to Paul: “No man can say that +Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (I +Cor. xii. 3). “No man,” says Paul. Then +learning it from the Bible or catechism is not to know +it except as the parrot might know it; but every man +is to be taught this by the Holy Spirit, if he is +to really know it.</p> + +<p>Then it is not a revelation made once for all, and +only to the men who walked and talked with Jesus, +but it is a spiritual revelation made anew to each +believing heart that in penitence seeks Him and so +meets the conditions of such a revelation.</p> + +<p>Then the poor, degraded, ignorant outcast at The Army +penitent-form in the slums of London or Chicago, +who never heard of a creed, and the ebony African +and dusky Indian, who never saw the inside of a Bible, +may have Christ revealed in him, and know by the revelation +of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is Lord.</p> + +<p>“It pleased God... to reveal His Son in me,” +wrote Paul (Gal. i. 15, 16); and again, “Christ +liveth in me” (Gal. ii. 20); and again, “My +little children, of whom I travail in birth again +until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. iv. 19); +as though Christ is to be spiritually formed in the +heart of each believer by the operation of the Holy +Spirit, as He was physically formed in the womb of +Mary by the same Spirit (Luke i. 35); and again, “The +mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, +but now is made manifest to His saints,... which is +Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. i. 26, +27); “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by +faith” (Eph. iii. 17); “Examine yourselves, +whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. +Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ +is in you, except ye be reprobates” (2 Cor. +xiii. 5)?</p> + +<p>“At that day,” said Jesus, when making +His great promise of the Comforter to His disciples, +“At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, +and ye in Me, and I in you” (John xiv. 20); and +again, in His great prayer, He said: “I have +declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: +that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be +in them, and I in them.”</p> + +<p>It is this ever-recurring revelation to penitent, +believing hearts, by the agency of the ever-present +Holy Spirit, that makes faith in Jesus Christ living +and invincible. “I know He is Lord, for He saves +my soul from sin, and He saves me now,” is an +argument that rationalism and unbelief cannot answer +nor overthrow, and so long as there are men in the +world who can say this, faith in the divinity of Jesus +Christ is secure; and this experience and witness +come by the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p> “I worship Thee, O Holy Ghost,<br> + I love to worship Thee;<br> + My risen Lord for aye were lost<br> + But for Thy company.”</p> + +<p>And so it is by the guidance and teaching of the Holy +Spirit that all saving truth becomes vital to us.</p> + +<p>It is He that makes the Bible a living Book; it is +He that convinces the world of judgment (John xvi. +8-11); it is He that makes men certain that there +is a Heaven of surpassing and enduring glory and joy, +and a Hell of endless sorrow and woe for those who +sin away their day of grace and die in impenitence.</p> + +<p>Who have been the mightiest and most faithful preachers +of the gloom and terror and pain of a perpetual Hell? +those who have been the mightiest and most effective +preachers of God’s compassionate love.</p> + +<p>In all periods of great revival, when men seemed to +live on the borderland, and in the vision of eternity, +Hell has been preached. The leaders in these revivals +have been men of prayer and faith and consuming love, +but they have been men who knew “the terrors +of the Lord,” and, therefore, they preached +the judgments of God, and they proved that the law +with its penalties is a schoolmaster to bring men +to Christ (Gal. iii. 24). Fox, the Quaker; Bunyan, +the Baptist; Baxter, the Puritan; Wesley and Fletcher, +and Whitefield and Caughey, the Methodists; Finney, +the Presbyterian; Edwards and Moody, the Congregationalists; +and General Booth, the Salvationist, have preached +it, not savagely, but tenderly and faithfully, as +a mother might warn her child against some great danger +that would surely follow careless and selfish wrong-doing.</p> + +<p>What men have loved and laboured and sacrificed as +these men? Their hearts have been a flaming furnace +of love and devotion to God, and an over-flowing fountain +of love and compassion for men; but just in proportion +as they have discovered God’s love and pity +for the sinner, so have they discovered His wrath against +sin and all obstinate wrong-doing; and as they have +caught glimpses of Heaven and declared its joys and +everlasting glories to men, so they have seen Hell, +with its endless punishment, and with trembling voice +and overflowing eyes have they warned men to “flee +from the wrath to come.”</p> + +<p>Were these men, throbbing with spiritual life and +consumed with devotion to the Kingdom of God and the +everlasting well-being of their fellowmen, led to +this belief by the Spirit of Truth, or were they misled? +Is it the prophet, weeping and praying and preaching +and fighting for God and men, to whom the Spirit has +always first spoken and revealed the things of God? +Or is it the philosopher, or dry-as-dust theologian, +or the popular preacher of smooth things, sitting +in his study and among his books, spinning out of +his own mind his conceits concerning God’s plan +and purpose in the universe?</p> + +<p>Does Seneca or the Psalmist, Plato or Paul, Rousseau +or Wesley, the idolised, high-salaried, soft-raimented +preacher of a wide gate and broad way to life and +Heaven, or the veteran soul-winner, General Booth, +more clearly make known the mind of God in matters +that are spiritual?</p> + +<p>“The things of the Spirit... are spiritually +discerned” (I Cor. ii. 14), says Paul. It is +not by searching and philosophising that these things +are found out, but by revelation. “Flesh and +blood hath not revealed it unto thee,” said Jesus +to Peter, “but My Father which is in Heaven” +(Matthew xvi. 17). The great teacher of truth is the +Spirit of Truth, and the only safe expounders and +guardians of sound doctrine are men filled with the +Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>Study and research have their place, and an important +place; but in spiritual things they will be no avail +unless prosecuted by spiritual men. As well might +men blind from birth attempt to study the starry heavens, +and men born deaf undertake to expound and criticise +the harmonies of Bach and Beethoven. Men must see +and hear to speak and write intelligently on such subjects. +And so men must be spiritually enlightened to understand +spiritual truth.</p> + +<p>The greatest danger to any religious organisation +is that a body of men should arise in its ranks, and +hold its positions of trust, who have learned its +great fundamental doctrines by rote out of the catechism, +but have no experimental knowledge of their truth +inwrought by the mighty anointing of the Holy Ghost, +and who are destitute of “an unction from the +Holy One,” by which, says John, “ye know +all things” (1 John ii. 20, 27).</p> + +<p>Why do men deny the divinity of Jesus Christ? Because +they have never placed themselves in that relation +to the Spirit, and met those unchanging conditions +that would enable Him to reveal Jesus to them as Saviour +and Lord.</p> + +<p>Why do men dispute the inspiration of the Scriptures? +Because the Holy Ghost, who inspired “holy men +of God” to write the Book (2 Peter i. 21), hides +its spiritual sense from unspiritual and unholy men.</p> + +<p>Why do men doubt a Day of Judgment, and a state of +everlasting doom? Because they have never been bowed +and broken and crushed beneath the weight of their +sin, and by a sense of guilt and separation from a +holy God that can only be removed by faith in His +dying Son.</p> + +<p>A sportsman lost his way in a pitiless storm on a +black and starless night. Suddenly his horse drew +back and refused to take another step. He urged it +forward, but it only threw itself back upon its haunches. +Just then a vivid flash of lightning revealed a great +precipice upon the brink of which he stood. It was +but an instant, and then the pitchy blackness hid +it again from view. But he turned his horse and anxiously +rode away from the terrible danger.</p> + +<p>A distinguished professor of religion said to me some +time ago, “I dislike, I abhor, the doctrine +of Hell”; and then after a while added, “But +three times in my life I have seen that there was +eternal separation from God and an everlasting Hell +for me, if I walked not in the way God was calling +me to go.”</p> + +<p>Into the blackness of the sinner’s night the +Holy Spirit, who is patiently and compassionately +seeking the salvation of all men, flashes a light +that gives him a glimpse of eternal things which, +heeded, would lead to the sweet peace and security +of eternal day. For when the Holy Spirit is heeded +and honoured, the night passes, the shadows flee away, +the day dawns, “the Sun of Righteousness arises +with healing in His wings,” and, saved and sanctified, +men walk in His light in safety and joy. Doctrines +which before were repellent to the carnal mind, and +but foolishness, or a stumbling-block to the heart +of unbelief, now become precious and satisfying to +the soul; and truths which before were hid in impenetrable +darkness, or seen only as through dense gloom and +fog, are now seen clearly as in the light of broad +day.</p> + +<p> “Hold thou the faith that Christ +is Lord,<br> + God over all, who died and rose;<br> + And everlasting life bestows<br> + On all who hear the living word.<br> + For thee His life-blood He out-poured,<br> + His Spirit sets thy spirit free;<br> + Hold thou the faith—­He +dwells in thee,<br> + And thou in Him, and Christ is Lord!”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter15"></a> +<h1>XV.</h1> + +<h2>Praying in the Spirit</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>An important work of the Holy Spirit is to teach us +how to pray, instruct us what to pray for, and inspire +us to pray earnestly, without ceasing, and in faith, +for the things we desire and the things that are dear +to the heart of the Lord.</p> + +<p>In a familiar verse, the poet Montgomery says:</p> + +<p> “Prayer is the burden of a sigh,<br> + The falling of a tear,<br> + The upward glancing of the eye,<br> + When none but God is near.”</p> + +<p>And no doubt he is right. Prayer is exceedingly simple. +The faintest cry for help, a whisper for mercy, is +prayer. But when the Holy Spirit comes and fills the +soul with His blessed presence, prayer becomes more +than a cry; it ceases to be a feeble request, and +often becomes a strife (Romans xv. 30; Col. iv. 12) +for greater things, a conflict, an invincible argument, +a wrestling with God, and through it men enter into +the Divine councils and rise into a blessed and responsible +fellowship in some important sense with the Father +and the Son in the moral government of the world.</p> + +<p>It was in this spirit and fellowship that Abraham +prayed for Sodom (Genesis xviii. 23-32); that Moses +interceded for Israel, and stood between them and +God’s hot displeasure (Exodus xxxii. 7-14); +and that Elijah prevailed to shut up the heavens for +three years and six months, and then again prevailed +in his prayer for rain.</p> + +<p>God would have us come to Him not only as a foolish +and ignorant child comes, but as an ambassador to +his home government; as a full-grown son who has become +of age and entered into partnership with his father; +as a bride who is one in all interests and affections +with the bridegroom.</p> + +<p>He would have us “come boldly to the throne +of grace” with a well-reasoned and Scriptural +understanding of what we desire, and with a purpose +to “ask,” “seek,” and “knock” +till we get the thing we wish, being assured that +it is according to His will; and this boldness is +not inconsistent with the profoundest humility and +a sense of utter dependence; indeed, it is always +accompanied by self-distrust and humble reliance upon +the merits of Jesus, else it is but presumption and +unsanctified conceit. This union of assurance and +humility, of boldness and dependence, can be secured +only by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and only +so can one be prepared and fitted for such prayer.</p> + +<p>Three great obstacles hinder mighty prayer:</p> + +<p>1. selfishness; 2, unbelief; 3, the darkness of ignorance +and foolishness. The baptism with the Spirit sweeps +away these obstacles and brings in the three great +essentials to prayer—­1, faith; 2, love, +Divine love; 3, the light of heavenly knowledge and +wisdom.</p> + +<p>1. Selfishness must be cast out by the incoming of +love. The ambassador must not be seeking personal +ends, but the interests of his government and the +people he represents; the son must not be seeking +private gain, but the common prosperity of the partnership +in which he will fully and lawfully share; the bride +must not forget him to whom she belongs, and seek separate +ends, but in all ways identify herself with her husband +and his interests.</p> + +<p>So the child of God must come in prayer, unselfishly.</p> + +<p>It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our co-operation +and glad consent, to search and destroy selfishness +out of our hearts, and fill them with pure love to +God and man. And when this is done we shall not then +be asking for things amiss to consume them upon our +lusts, to gratify our appetites, or pride, or ambition, +or ease, or vain-glory. We shall seek only the glory +of our Lord and the common good of our fellow-men, +in which, as co-workers and partners, we shall have +a common share. If we ask for success, it is not that +we may be exalted, but that God may be glorified; +that Jesus may secure the purchase of His blood; that +men may be saved, and the Kingdom of Heaven be established +upon earth.</p> + +<p>If we ask for daily bread, it is not that we may be +full, but that we may be fitted for daily duty. If +we ask for health, it is not alone that we may be +free from pain and filled with physical comfort, but +that we may be spent “in publishing the sinner’s +Friend,” in fulfilling the work for which God +has placed us here.</p> + +<p>2. Unbelief must be destroyed. Doubt paralyzes prayer. +Unbelief quenches the spirit of intercession. Only +as the eye of faith sees our Father God upon the Throne +guaranteeing to us rights and privileges by the blood +of His Son, and inviting us to come without fear, +and make our wants known, does prayer rise from the +commonplace to the sublime; does it cease to be a feeble, +timid cry, and become a mighty spiritual force, moving +God Himself in the interests which it seeks.</p> + +<p>Men, wise with the wisdom of this world, but poor +and naked and blind and foolish in matters of faith, +ask: “Will God change His plans at the request +of man?” And we answer, “Yes,” since +many of God’s plans are made contingent upon +the prayers of His people, and He has ordered that +prayer offered in faith, according to His will, revealed +in His word, shall be one of the controlling factors +in His government of men.</p> + +<p>Is it God’s will that the tides of the Atlantic +and Pacific should sweep across the Isthmus of Panama? +That men should run under the Alps? That thoughts +and words should be winged across the ocean without +any visible or tangible medium? Yes; it is His will, +if men will it, and work to these ends in harmony with +His great physical laws. So in the spiritual world +there are wonders wrought by prayer, and God wills +the will of His people when they come to Him in faith +and love.</p> + +<p>What else is meant by such promises and assurances +as these: “Therefore I say unto you, What things +soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive +them, and ye shall have them” (Mark xi. 24); +“The supplication of a righteous man availeth +much in its working. Elijah was a man of like passions +with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not +rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years +and six months. And he prayed again, and the heavens +gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit” +(James v. 16-18. American Revision).</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit dwelling within the heart helps us +to understand the things we may pray for, and the +heart that is full of love and loyalty to God only +wants what is lawful. This is mystery to people who +are under the dominion of selfishness and the darkness +of unbelief, but it is a soul-thrilling fact to those +who are filled with the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>“What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” +asked Jesus of the blind man (Luke xviii. 41).</p> + +<p>He had respect to the will of the blind man, and granted +his request, seeing he had faith. And He still has +respect to the vigorous, sanctified will of His people—­the +will that has been subdued by consecration and faith +into loving union with His will.</p> + +<p>The Lord answered Abraham on behalf of Sodom till +he ceased to ask.</p> + +<p>“The Lord has had His way so long with Hudson +Taylor,” said a friend, “that now, Hudson +Taylor can have his way with the Lord.”</p> + +<p>Adoniram Judson lay sick with a fatal illness in far-away +Burmah. His wife read to him an account of the conversion +of a number of Jews in Constantinople through some +of his writings. For a while the sick man was silent, +and then he spoke with awe, telling his wife that +for years he had prayed that he might be used in some +way to bless the Jews, yet never having seen any evidence +that his prayers were answered; but now, after many +years and from far away, the evidence of answer had +come. And then, after further silence, he spoke with +deep emotion, saying that he had never prayed a prayer +for the glory of God and the good of men but that, +sooner or later, even though for the time being he +had forgotten, he found that God had not forgotten, +but had remembered and patiently worked to answer +his prayer.</p> + +<p>Oh, the faithfulness of God! He means it when He makes +promises and exhorts and urges and commands us to +pray. It is not His purpose to mock us, but to answer +and “to do exceeding abundantly above all that +we ask or think.” Bless His holy Name!</p> + +<p>3. Knowledge and wisdom must take the place of foolish +ignorance. Paul says, “We know not what we should +pray for as we ought,” and then adds, “But +the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with +groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans viii. +26). If my little child asks for a glittering razor, +I refuse its request; but when my full-grown son asks +for one I grant it. So God cannot wisely answer some +prayers, for they are foolish or untimely. Hence, +we need not love and faith only, but wisdom and knowledge, +that we may ask according to the will of God.</p> + +<p>It is this that Paul has in mind when he says that +he will not only pray with the Spirit, but “I +will pray with the understanding also” (I Cor. +xiv. 15). Men should think before they pray, and study +that they may pray wisely.</p> + +<p>Now, when the Holy Spirit comes there pours into the +soul not only a tide of love and simple faith, but +a flood of light as well, and prayer becomes not only +earnest, but intelligent also. And this intelligence +increases, as, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, +the word of God is studied, and its heavenly truths +and principles are grasped and assimilated.</p> + +<p>It is thus men come to know God and become His friends, +whose prayers He will assist and will not deny.</p> + +<p>Such men talk with God as friend with friend, and +the Holy Spirit helps their infirmities; encourages +them to urge their prayer in faith; teaches them to +reason with God; enables them to come boldly in the +name of Jesus, when oppressed with a sense of their +own insignificance and unworthiness; and, when words +fail them and they scarcely know how to voice their +desires, He intercedes within them with unutterable +groanings, according to the will of God (Romans viii. +26, 27; 1 Cor. ii. 11).</p> + +<p>A young man felt called to mission work in China, +but his mother offered strong opposition to his going. +An agent of the mission, knowing the need of the work, +and vexed with the mother, one day laid the case before +Hudson Taylor.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Taylor,” said he, “listened +patiently and lovingly to all I had to say, and then +gently suggested our praying about it. Such a prayer +I have never heard before! It seemed to me more like +a conversation with a trusted friend whose advice +he was seeking. He talked the matter over with the +Friend from every point of view—­from the +side of the young man, from the side of China’s +needs, from the side of the mother, and her natural +feelings, and also from my side. It was a revelation +to me. I saw that prayer did not mean merely asking +for things, much less asking for things to be carried +out by God according to our ideas; but that it means +<i>communion</i>, fellowship, partnership, with our +Heavenly Father. And when our will is really blended +with His, what liberty we may have in asking for what +we want!”</p> + +<p>Hallelujah!</p> + +<p> “My soul, ask what thou wilt,<br> + Thou canst not be too bold;<br> + Since His own blood for thee He spilt,<br> + What else can He withhold?”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter16"></a> +<h1>XVI.</h1> + +<h2>Characteristics of the Anointed Preacher</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Since God saves men by “the foolishness of preaching,” +the preacher has an infinitely important work, and +he must be fitted for it. But what can fit a man for +such sacred work? Not education alone, not knowledge +of books, not gifts of speech, not winsome manners, +nor a magnetic voice, nor a commanding presence, but +only God. The preacher must be more than a man—­he +must be a man plus the Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>Paul was such a man. He was full of the Holy Spirit, +and in studying his life and ministry we get a life-sized +portrait of an anointed preacher living, fighting, +preaching, praying, suffering, triumphing, and dying +in the power and light and glory of the indwelling +Spirit.</p> + +<p>In the second chapter of the First of Thessalonians +he gives us a picture of his character and ministry +which were formed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, +a sample of His workmanship, and an example for all +Gospel preachers.</p> + +<p>At Philippi he had been terribly beaten with stripes +on his bare back, and roughly thrust into the inner +dungeon, and his feet were made fast in the stocks; +but that did not break nor quench his spirit. Love +burned in his heart, and his joy in the Lord brimmed +full and bubbled over, and at midnight, in the damp, +dark, loathsome dungeon, he and Silas, his comrade +in service and suffering, “prayed and sang praises +unto God.” God answered with an earthquake, +and the jailer and his household got gloriously converted. +Paul was set free and went at once to Thessalonica, +where, regardless of the shameful way he had been treated +at Philippi, he preached the Gospel boldly, and a +blessed revival followed with many converts; but persecution +arose, and Paul had again to flee. His heart, however, +was continually turning back to these converts, and +at last he sat down and wrote them this letter. From +this we learn that—­</p> + +<p>1. He was a <i>joyful</i> preacher. He was no pessimist, +croaking out doleful prophecies and lamentations and +bitter criticisms. He was full of the joy of the Lord. +It was not the joy that comes from good health, a +pleasant home, plenty of money, wholesome food, numerous +and smiling friends, and sunny, favouring skies; but +a deep, springing fountain of solemn, gladdening joy +that abounded and overflowed in pain and weariness, +in filthy, noisome surroundings, in loneliness and +poverty, and danger and bitter persecutions. No earth-born +trial could quench it, for it was Heaven-born; it +was “the joy of the Lord” poured into his +heart with the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>2. He was a <i>bold</i> preacher. Worldly prudence +would have constrained him to go softly at Thessalonica, +after his experience at Philippi, lest he arouse opposition +and meet again with personal violence; but, instead, +he says: “We were bold in our God to speak unto +you the Gospel of God with much contention.” +Personal considerations were all forgotten, or cast +to the winds, in his impetuous desire to declare the +Gospel and save their souls. He lived in the will +of God, and conquered his fears. “The wicked” +are fearful, and “flee when no man pursueth; +but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”</p> + +<p>This boldness is a fruit of righteousness, and is +always found in those who are full of the Holy Ghost. +They forget themselves, and so lose all fear. This +was the secret of the martyrs when burned at the stake +or thrown to the wild beasts.</p> + +<p>Fear is a fruit of selfishness. Boldness thrives when +selfishness is destroyed. God esteems it, commands +His people to be courageous, and makes spiritual leaders +only of those who possess courage (Joshua i. 9).</p> + +<p>Moses feared not the wrath of the king, refused to +be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, and +boldly espoused the cause of his despised and enslaved +people.</p> + +<p>Joshua was full of courage. Gideon fearlessly attacked +one hundred and twenty thousand Midianites, with but +three hundred unarmed men.</p> + +<p>Jonathan and his armour-bearer charged the Philistine +garrison and routed hundreds singlehanded.</p> + +<p>David faced the lion and the bear, and inspired all +Israel by battling with and killing Goliath.</p> + +<p>The prophets were men of the highest courage, who +fearlessly rebuked kings, and at the risk of life, +and often at the cost of life, denounced popular sins, +and called the people back to righteousness and the +faithful service of God. These men feared God, and +so lost the fear of man. They believed God, and so +obeyed Him, and found His favour, and were entrusted +with His high missions and everlasting employments.</p> + +<p>“Fear thou not, for I am with thee,” saith +the Lord; and this Paul believed, and so says, “We +were bold in our God.” God was his high tower, +his strength and unfailing defence, and so he was +not afraid.</p> + +<p>His boldness toward man was a fruit of his boldness +toward God, and that, in turn, was a fruit of his +faith in Jesus as his High Priest, who had been touched +with the feeling of his infirmities, and through whom +he could “come boldly to the Throne of Grace, +and obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time +of need.”</p> + +<p>It is the timidity and delicacy with which men attempt +God’s work that often accounts for their failure. +Let them speak out boldly like men, as ambassadors +of Heaven, who are not afraid to represent their King, +and they will command attention and respect, and reach +the hearts and consciences of men.</p> + +<p>I have read that quaint old Bishop Latimer, who was +afterwards burned at the stake, “having preached +a sermon before King Henry VIII, which greatly displeased +the monarch, was ordered to preach again on the next +Sunday, and make apology for the offence given. The +day came, and with it a crowded assembly anxious to +hear the bishop’s apology. Reading his text, +he commenced thus: ’Hugh Latimer, dost thou +know before whom thou art this day to speak? To the +high and mighty monarch, the king’s most excellent +majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest. +Therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word +that may displease. But, then, consider well, Hugh, +dost thou not know from whence thou comest? Upon whose +message thou art sent? Even by the great and mighty +God, who is all-present, and who beholdeth all thy +ways, and who is able to cast thy soul into Hell! +Therefore, take care that thou deliver thy message +faithfully.’”</p> + +<p>He then repeated the sermon of the previous Sunday, +word for word, but with double its former energy and +emphasis. The Court was full of excitement to learn +what would be the fate of this plain-dealing and fearless +bishop. He was ordered into the king’s presence, +who, with a stern voice, asked: “How dared you +thus offend me?” “I merely discharged +my duty,” was Latimer’s reply. The king +arose from his seat, embraced the good man, saying, +“Blessed be God I have so honest a servant.”</p> + +<p>He was a worthy successor of Nathan, who confronted +King David with his sin, and said, “Thou art +the man.”</p> + +<p>This Divine courage will surely accompany the fiery +baptism of the Spirit.</p> + +<p>What is it but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that +gives courage to Salvation Army Officers and Soldiers, +enabling them to face danger and difficulty and loneliness +with joy, and attack sin in its worst forms as fearlessly +as David attacked Goliath?</p> + +<p>“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, +saith the Lord.”</p> + +<p> “Shall I, for fear of feeble man,<br> + The Spirit’s course in me restrain?<br> + Awed by a mortal’s frown, shall +I<br> + Conceal the word of God most high?<br> + Shall I, to soothe the unholy throng,<br> + Soften Thy truth, or smooth my tongue?</p> + +<p> “How then before Thee shall I dare<br> + To stand, or how Thine anger bear?<br> + Yea, let men rage; since Thou wilt spread<br> + Thy shadowing wings around my head;<br> + Since in all pain Thy tender love<br> + Will still my sure refreshment prove.”</p> + +<p>3. He was <i>without guile</i>. “For our exhortation +was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; +but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with +the Gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, +but God, which trieth our hearts.”</p> + +<p>He was frank and open. He spoke right out of his heart. +He was transparently simple and straightforward. Since +God had honoured him with this infinite trust of preaching +the Gospel, he sought to so preach it that he should +please God regardless of men. And yet that is the +surest way to please men. People who listen to such +a man feel his honesty, and realise that he is seeking +to do them good, to save them rather than to tickle +their ears and win their applause, and in their hearts +they are pleased.</p> + +<p>But, anyway, whether or not they are pleased, he is +to deliver his message as an ambassador, and look +to his home government for his reward. He gets his +commission from God, and it is God who will try his +heart and prove his ministry. Oh, to please Jesus! +Oh, to stand perfect before God after preaching His +Gospel!</p> + +<p>4. He was <i>not a time-server nor a covetous man.</i> +“Neither at any time used we flattering words, +as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness,” +he adds.</p> + +<p>There are three ways of reaching a man’s purse: +(1) Directly. (2) By way of his head with flattering +words. (3) By way of his heart with manly, honest, +saving words. The first way is robbery. The second +way is robbery, with the poison of a deadly, but pleasing, +opiate added, which may damn his soul. The third reaches +his purse by saving his soul and opening in his heart +an unfailing fountain of benevolence to bless himself +and the world.</p> + +<p>It were better for a preacher to turn highwayman, +and rob men with a club and a strong hand, than, with +smiles and smooth words and feigned and fawning affection, +to rob them with flattery, while their poor souls, +neglected and deceived, go down to Hell. How will +he meet them in the Day of Judgment, and look into +their horrorstricken faces, realising that he played +and toyed with their fancies and affections and pride +to get money, and, instead of faithfully warning them +and seeking to save them, with flattering words fattened +their souls for destruction!</p> + +<p>Not so did Paul. “I seek not yours, but you,” +he wrote the Corinthians. It was not their money, +but their souls he wanted.</p> + +<p>But such faithful love will be able to command all +men have to give. Why, to some of his converts he +wrote: “I bear you record, that if it had been +possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, +and have given them to me” (Gal. iv. 15). But +he sought not to please them with flattering words, +only to save them.</p> + +<p>So faithful was he in this matter, and so conscious +of his integrity, that he called God Himself into +the witness-box. “God is witness,” says +he.</p> + +<p>Blessed is the man who can call on God to witness +for him; and that man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells +in fullness can do this. Can you, my brother?</p> + +<p>5. He was <i>not vain-glorious, nor dictatorial, nor +oppressive</i>. Some men care nothing for money, but +they care mightily for power and place and the glory +that men give. But Paul was free from this spiritual +itching. Listen to him: “Nor of men sought we +glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might +have been burdensome” (or “used authority”) +“as the Apostles of Christ.”</p> + +<p>Said Solomon, “For men to seek their own glory +is not glory,” it is only vain-glory. “How +can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, +and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” +asked Jesus.</p> + +<p>From all this Paul was free, and so is every man who +is full of the Holy Ghost. And it is only as we are +thus free that with the whole heart and with a single +eye we can devote ourselves to the work of saving +men.</p> + +<p>6. With all his boldness and faithfulness he was <i>gentle</i>. +“We were gentle among you,” he says, “as +a nurse cherisheth her children.”</p> + +<p>The fierce hurricane which casts down the giant trees +of the forest is not so mighty as the gentle sunshine, +which, from tiny seeds and acorns, lifts aloft the +towering spires of oak and fir on a thousand hills +and mountains.</p> + +<p>The wild storm that lashes the sea into foam and fury +is feeble compared to the gentle, yet immeasurably +powerful influence, which twice a day swings the oceans +in resistless tides from shore to shore.</p> + +<p>And as in the physical world the mighty powers are +gentle in their vast workings, so it is in the spiritual +world. The light that falls on the lids of the sleeping +infant and wakes it from its slumber, is not more +gentle than the “still small voice” that +brings assurance of forgiveness or cleansing to them +that look unto Jesus.</p> + +<p>Oh, the gentleness of God! “Thy gentleness hath +made me great,” said David. “I beseech +you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ” +(2 Cor. x. 1), wrote Paul. And again, “The fruit +of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, +gentleness” (Gal. v. 22). And as the Father, +Son, and Holy Ghost are gentle, so will be the servant +of the Lord who is filled with the Spirit.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the gentleness of a mighty man +of God whom I well knew, who on the platform was clothed +with zeal as with a garment, and in his overwhelming +earnestness was like a lion or a consuming fire; but +when dealing with a wounded or broken heart, or with +a seeking soul, no nurse with a little babe could be +more tender than he.</p> + +<p>7. Finally, Paul was full of <i>self-forgetful, self-sacrificing +love.</i> “So being affectionately desirous of +you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not +the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because +ye were dear unto us.”</p> + +<p>No wonder he shook those heathen cities, overthrew +their idols, had great revivals, that his jailer was +converted, and that his converts would have gladly +plucked out their eyes for him! Such tender, self-sacrificing +love compels attention, begets confidence, enkindles +love, and surely wins its object.</p> + +<p>This burning love led him to labour and sacrifice, +and so live and walk before them that he was not only +a teacher, but an example of all he taught, and could +safely say, “Follow me.”</p> + +<p>This love led him to preach the whole truth, that +he might by all means save them. He kept back no truth +because it was unpopular, for it was their salvation +and not his own reputation and popularity he sought.</p> + +<p>He preached not himself, but a crucified Christ, without +the shedding of whose blood there is no remission +of sins; and through that precious blood he preached +present cleansing from all sin, and the gift of the +Holy Spirit for all who obediently believe.</p> + +<p>And this love kept him faithful and humble and true +to the end, so that at last in sight of the martyr’s +death, he saw the martyr’s crown, and cried +out: “I am now ready to be offered,... I have +fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have +kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me +a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous +Judge, shall give me at that day.”</p> + +<p>He had been faithful, and now at the end he was oppressed +with no doubts and harassed with no bitter regrets, +but looked forward with eager joy to meeting his Lord +and beholding the blessed face of Him he loved. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p> “Have you received the Holy Ghost?<br> + ’Twill fit you for the fight,<br> + ’Twill make of you a mighty host,<br> + To put your foes to flight.</p> + +<p> “Have you received the Holy Power?<br> + ’Twill fall from Heaven on +you,<br> + From Jesus’ throne this very hour,<br> + ’Twill make you brave and +true.</p> + +<p> “Oh, now receive the Holy Fire!<br> + ’Twill burn away all dross,<br> + All earthly, selfish, vain desire,<br> + ’Twill make you love the Cross.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter17"></a> +<h1>XVII.</h1> + +<h2>Preaching</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where +is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish +the wisdom of this world?” asks Paul. And then +he declares: “After that in the wisdom of God +the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by +the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”</p> + +<p>What kind of preaching is this? He does not say, “foolish +preaching,” but the foolishness of such a way +as that of preaching. Certainly, it is not the moral +essay, or the intellectual, or semi-intellectual, +kind of preaching that is most generally heard throughout +the world to-day, that is to save men; for thousands +of such sermons move and convert no one: nor is it +a mere noisy declamation called a sermon—­noisy +because empty of all earnest thought and true feeling; +but it must be the kind of which Peter speaks when +he writes of “them that preached the Gospel +... with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven” +(1 Peter i. 12).</p> + +<p>No man is equipped to rightly preach the Gospel, and +undertake the spiritual oversight and instruction +of souls, till he has been anointed with the Holy +Ghost.</p> + +<p>The disciples had been led to Jesus by John the Baptist, +whose mighty preaching laid a deep and broad foundation +for their spiritual education, and then for three +years they had listened to both the public and private +teachings of Jesus; they had been “eye-witnesses +of His glory,” of His life and death and resurrection, +and yet He commanded them to tarry in Jerusalem, and +wait for the Holy Spirit. He was to fit them for their +ministry. And if they, trained and taught by the Master +Himself, had need of the Holy Spirit to enable them +to preach and testify with wisdom and power, how much +more do you and I need His presence!</p> + +<p>Without Him they could do nothing. With Him they were +invincible, and could continue the work of Jesus. +The mighty energy of His working is seen in the preaching +of Peter on the day of Pentecost. The sermon itself +does not seem to have been very remarkable; indeed, +it is principally composed of testimony backed up +and fortified by Scripture quotations, followed by +exhortation, just as are the sermons that are most +effective to-day in the immediate conversion and +sanctification of men. “True preaching,” +said Horace Bushnell, “is a testimony.”</p> + +<p>Peter’s Scripture quotations were apt, fitting +the occasion and the people to whom they were addressed. +The testimony was bold and joyous, the rushing outflow +of a warm, fresh throbbing experience; and the exhortation +was burning, uncompromising in its demands, and yet +tender and full of sympathy and love. But a Divine +Presence was at work in that vast, mocking, wondering +throng, and it was He who made Peter’s simple +words search like fire, and carry such overwhelming +conviction to the hearts of the people.</p> + +<p>And it is still so that whenever and wherever a man +preaches “with the Holy Ghost sent down from +Heaven,” there will be conviction.</p> + +<p>Under Peter’s sermon “they were pricked +in their hearts.” The truth pierced them as +a sword until they said, “What shall we do?” +They had been doubting and mocking a short time before, +but now they were earnestly inquiring the way to be +saved.</p> + +<p>The speech may be without polish, the manner uncouth, +and the matter simple and plain; but conviction will +surely follow any preaching in the burning love and +power and contagious joy of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>A few years ago a poor black boy in Africa, who had +been stolen for a slave, and most cruelly treated, +heard a missionary talking of the indwelling of the +Holy Spirit, and his heart hungered and thirsted for +Him. In a strange manner he worked his way to New +York to find out more about the Holy Spirit, getting +the captain of the ship and several of the crew converted +on the way. The brother in New York to whom he came +took him to a meeting the first night he was in the +city, and left him there, while he went to fulfil +another engagement. When he returned at a late hour, +he found a crowd of men at the penitent-form, led +there by the simple words of this poor black fellow. +He took him to his Sunday-school, and put him up to +speak, while he attended to some other matters. When +he turned from these affairs that had occupied his +attention for only a little while, he found the penitent-form +full of teachers and scholars, weeping before the +Lord. What the black boy had said he did not know; +but he was bowed with wonder and filled with joy, +for it was the power of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>Men used to fall as though cut down in battle under +the preaching of Wesley, Whitefield, Finney, and others. +And while there may not be the same physical manifestation +at all times, there will surely be the same opening +of eyes to spiritual things, breaking of hearts, and +piercing of consciences. The Spirit under the preaching +of a man filled with the Holy Ghost will often come +upon a congregation like a wind, and heads will droop, +eyes will brim with tears, and hearts will break under +His convicting power. I remember a proud young woman +who had been mercilessly criticising us for several +nights smitten in this way. She was smiling when suddenly +the Holy Spirit winged a word to her heart, and instantly +her countenance changed, her head drooped, and for +an hour or more she sobbed and struggled while her +proud heart broke, and she found her way with true +repentance and faith to the feet of Jesus, and her +Heavenly Father’s favour. How often have we +seen such sights as this under the preaching of The +General! And it ought to be a common sight under the +preaching of all servants of God, for what are we +sent for but to convict men of their sin and their +need, and by the power of the Spirit to lead them +to the Saviour?</p> + +<p>And not only will there be conviction under such preaching, +but generally, if not always, there will be conversion +and sanctification.</p> + +<p>Three thousand people accepted Christ under Peter’s +Pentecostal sermon, and later five thousand were converted, +and a multitude of the priests were obedient to the +faith. And it was so under the preaching of Philip +in Samaria, of Peter in Lydda and Saron and in Cæsarea, +and of Paul in Ephesus and other cities.</p> + +<p>To be sure, the preaching of Stephen in its immediate +effect only resulted in enraging his hearers until +they stoned him to death; but it is highly probable +that the ultimate result was the conversion of Paul, +who kept the clothes of those who stoned him, and +through Paul the evangelisation of the Gentiles.</p> + +<p>One of the greatest of American evangelists sought +with agonising prayers and tears the baptism with +the Holy Spirit, and received it; and then he said +he preached the same sermons; but where before it +had been as one beating the air, now hundreds were +saved.</p> + +<p>It is this that has made Salvation Army Officers successful. +Young, inexperienced, without special gifts, and without +learning, but with the baptism, they have been mighty +to win souls. The hardest hearts have been broken, +the darkest minds illuminated, the most stubborn wills +subdued, and the wildest natures tamed by them. Their +words have been with power, and have convicted and +converted and sanctified men, and whole communities +have been transformed by their labours.</p> + +<p>But without this Presence great gifts and profound +and accurate learning are without avail in the salvation +of men. We often see men with great natural powers, +splendidly trained, and equipped with everything save +this fiery baptism, and they labour and preach year +after year without seeing a soul saved. They have +spent years in study; but they have not spent a day, +much less ten days, fasting and praying and waiting +upon God for His anointing that should fill them with +heavenly wisdom and power for their work. They are +like a great gun loaded and primed, but without a +spark of fire to turn the powder and ball into a resistless +lightning bolt.</p> + +<p>It is fire men need, and that they get from God in +agonising, wrestling, listening prayer that will not +be denied; and when they get it, and not till then, +will they preach with the Holy Ghost sent down from +Heaven, and surely men shall be saved. Such preaching +is not foolish. The Holy Spirit makes the word alive. +He brings it to the remembrance of the preachers in +whom He abides, and He applies it to the heart of +the hearers, lightening up the soul as with a sun +until sin is seen in all its hideousness, or cutting +as a sharp sword, piercing the heart with resistless +conviction of the guilt and shame of sin.</p> + +<p>Peter had no time to consult the Scriptures and prepare +a sermon on the morning of Pentecost; but the Holy +Spirit quickened his memory, and brought to his mind +the Scriptures appropriate to the occasion.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of years before, the Holy Spirit, by the +mouth of the prophet Joel, had foretold that in the +last days the Spirit should be poured out upon all +flesh, and that their sons and daughters should prophesy. +And the same Spirit that spoke through Joel now made +Peter to see and declare that this Pentecostal baptism +was that of which Joel spoke.</p> + +<p>By the mouth of David He had said: “Thou wilt +not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer +Thy Holy One to see corruption”; and now Peter, +by the inspiration of the same Spirit, applies this +Scripture to the resurrection of Jesus, and so proves +to the Jews that the One they had condemned and killed +was the Holy One foretold in prophecy and psalm.</p> + +<p>And so to-day the Holy Spirit inspires men who receive +Him to use the Scriptures to awaken, convict, and +save men.</p> + +<p>When Finney was a young preacher, he was invited to +a country school-house to preach. On the way there +he became much distressed in soul, and his mind seemed +blank and dark, when all at once this text, spoken +to Lot in Sodom by the angels, came to his mind: “Up, +get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy +this city.” He explained the text, told the people +about Lot, and the wickedness of Sodom, and applied +it to them. While he spoke they began to look exceedingly +angry, and then, as he earnestly exhorted them to +give up their sins and seek the Lord, they began to +fall from their seats as though stricken down in battle, +and to cry to God for mercy. A great revival followed; +many were converted, and a number of the converts became +ministers of the Gospel.</p> + +<p>To Finney’s amazement, he learned afterwards +that the place was called Sodom, because of its extreme +wickedness, and the old man who had invited him to +preach was called Lot, because he was the only God-fearing +man in the place. Evidently the Holy Spirit worked +through Finney to accomplish these results. And such +inspiration is not uncommon with those who are filled +with the Spirit.</p> + +<p>But this reinforcement of the mind and memory by the +Holy Spirit does not do away with the need of study. +The Spirit quickens that which is already in the mind +and memory, as the warm sun and rains of spring quicken +the sleeping seeds that are in the ground, and only +those.</p> + +<p>The sun does not put the seed in the soil, nor does +the Holy Spirit without our attention and study put +the word of God in our minds. For that we should prayerfully +and patiently study.</p> + +<p>“We will give ourselves continually to prayer, +and to the ministry of the word,” said the Apostles.</p> + +<p>“Study to show thyself approved of God, a workman +that needeth not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the +word of truth,” wrote Paul to Timothy.</p> + +<p>Those men have been best able to rightly divide the +word, and have been most mightily used by the Holy +Spirit, who have most carefully and prayerfully studied +the word of God, and most constantly and lovingly +meditated upon it.</p> + +<p>4. This preaching is <i>healing and comforting.</i> +Preaching “with the Holy Ghost sent down from +Heaven” is indescribably searching in its effects. +But it is also edifying, strengthening, comforting +to those who are wholly the Lord’s. It cuts, +but only to cure. It searches, but only to save. It +is constructive, as well as destructive. It tears +down sin and pride and unbelief, but it builds up +faith and righteousness and holiness and all the graces +of a Christian character. It warms the heart with love, +strengthens faith, and confirms the will in all holy +purposes.</p> + +<p>Every preacher baptised with the Holy Ghost can say +with Jesus: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon +Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good +tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up +the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, +and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; +to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the +day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.”</p> + +<p>Seldom is there a congregation in which there are +only those who need to be convicted. There will also +be meek and gentle ones to whom should be brought +a message of joy and good tidings; broken-hearted +ones to be bound up; wounded ones to heal; tempted +ones to be delivered; and those whom Satan has bound +by some fear or habit to be set free; and the Holy +Spirit who knows all hearts will inspire the word +that shall bless these needy ones.</p> + +<p>The preacher filled with the Holy Spirit, who is instant +in prayer, constant in the study of God’s word, +and steadfast and active in faith, will surely be +so helped that he can say with Isaiah: “The +Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, +that I should know how to speak a word in season to +him that is weary” (Isaiah i. 4). And as with +little Samuel, the Lord will “let none of his +words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel iii. 19).</p> + +<p>He will expect results, and God will make them follow +his preaching as surely as corn follows the planting +and cultivating of the farmer.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter13"></a> +<h1>XVIII.</h1> + +<h2>The Holy Spirit’s Call to the Work</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>“THE Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because +the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto +the meek; He hath sent Me” (Isaiah lxi. 1), +is the testimony of the workman God sends.</p> + +<p>God chooses His own workmen, and it is the office +of the Holy Spirit to call whom He will to preach +the Gospel. I doubt not He calls men to other employments +for His glory, and would still more often do so, if +men would but listen and wait upon Him to know His +will.</p> + +<p>He called Bezaleel and Aholiab to build the tabernacle. +He called and commissioned the Gentile king, Cyrus, +to rebuild Jerusalem and restore His chastised and +humbled people to their own land. And did He not call +Joan of Arc to her strange and wonderful mission? +And Washington and Lincoln?</p> + +<p>And, no doubt, He <i>leads</i> most men by His providence +to their life-work; but the call to preach the Gospel +is more than a providential leading; it is a distinct +and imperative conviction. Bishop Simpson, in his +“Lectures on Preaching,” says:—­</p> + +<p>“Even in its faintest form there is this distinction +between a call to the ministry and a choice of other +professions: a young man may <i>wish</i> to be a physician; +he may <i>desire</i> to enter the navy; he would <i>like</i> +to be a farmer; but he feels he <i>ought</i> to be +a minister. It is this feeling of <i>ought</i>, or +obligation, which in its feeblest form indicates the +Divine call. It is not in the aptitude, taste, or +desire, but in the conscience, that its root is found. +It is the voice of God to the human conscience, saying, +‘You ought to preach.’”</p> + +<p>Sometimes the call comes as distinctly as though a +voice had spoken from the skies into the depths of +the heart.</p> + +<p>A young man who was studying law was converted. After +a while he was convicted for sanctification, and while +seeking he heard, as it were, a voice, saying, “Will +you devote all your time to the Lord?” He replied: +“I am to be a lawyer, not a preacher, Lord.” +But not until he had said, “Yes, Lord,” +could he find the blessing.</p> + +<p>A thoughtless, godless young fellow was working in +the corn-field when a telegram was handed him announcing +the death of his brother, a brilliant and devoted +Salvation Army Field Officer; and there and then, +unsaved as he was, God called him, showed him a vast +Army with ranks broken, where his brother had fallen, +and made him to feel that he should fill the breach +in the ranks. Fourteen months later he took up the +sword, and entered the Fight from the same platform +from which his brother fell, and is to-day one of +our most successful and promising Field Officers.</p> + +<p>Again, the call may come as a quiet suggestion, a +gentle conviction, as though a gossamer bridle were +placed upon the heart and conscience to guide the +man into the work of the Lord. The suggestion gradually +becomes clearer, the conviction strengthens until +it masters the man, and if he seeks to escape it, +he finds the silken bridle to be one of stoutest thongs +and firmest steel.</p> + +<p>It was so with me. When but a boy of eleven, I heard +a man preaching, and I said to myself, “Oh, +how beautiful to preach!” Two years later I +was converted, and soon the conviction came upon me +that I should preach. Later, I decided to follow another +profession; but the conviction increased in strength, +while I struggled against it, and turned away my ears +and went on with my studies. Yet in every crisis, +or hour of stillness, when my soul faced God, the +conviction that I must preach burned itself deeper +into my conscience. I rebelled against it. I felt I +would almost rather (but not quite) go to Hell than +to submit. Then at last a great “Woe is me, +if I preach not the Gospel,” took possession +of me, and I yielded, and God won. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>The first year He gave me three revivals, with many +souls; and now I would rather preach Jesus to poor +sinners and feed His lambs than to be an archangel +before the Throne. Some day, some day, He will call +me into His blessed presence, and I shall stand before +His face, and praise Him for ever for counting me worthy, +and calling me to preach His glad Gospel, and share +in His joy of saving the lost. The “woe” +is lost in love and delight through the baptism of +the Spirit and the sweet assurance that Jesus is pleased.</p> + +<p>Occasionally, the call comes to a man who is ready +and responds promptly and gladly. When Isaiah received +the fiery touch that purged his life and purified +his heart, he “heard the voice of the Lord, +saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” +And in the joy and power of his new experience, he +cried out, “Here am I; send me!” (Isaiah +vi. 5-8).</p> + +<p>When Paul received his call, he says, “Immediately +I conferred not with flesh and blood” (Gal. +i. 16), and he got up and went as the Lord led him.</p> + +<p>But more often it seems the Lord finds men preoccupied +with other plans and ambitions, or encompassed with +obstacles and difficulties, or oppressed with a deep +sense of unworthiness or unfitness. Moses argued that +he could not talk. “O Lord!” he said, “I +am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since Thou +hast spoken unto Thy servant; but I am slow of speech, +and of a slow tongue.”</p> + +<p>And then the Lord condescended, as He always does, +to reason with the backward man. “Who hath made +man’s mouth?” He asks, “or who maketh +the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have +not I the Lord? Now, therefore, go, and I will be +with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” +(Exodus iv. 10-12).</p> + +<p>When the call of God came to Jeremiah, he shrank back, +and said, “Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: +for I am a child.” But the Lord replied, “Say +not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I +shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou +shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am +with thee to deliver thee” (Jeremiah i. 6-8).</p> + +<p>And so the call of God comes to-day to those who shrink +and feel that they are the most unfit, or most hedged +in by insuperable difficulties.</p> + +<p>I know a man, who, when converted, could not tell +A from B. He knew nothing whatever about the Bible, +and stammered so badly that, when asked his own name, +it would usually take him a minute or so to tell it; +added to this, he lisped badly, and was subject to +a nervous affliction which seemed likely to unfit him +for any kind of work whatever. But God poured light +and love into his heart, called him to preach, and +to-day he is one of the mightiest soul-winners in +the whole round of my acquaintance. When he speaks +the house is always packed to the doors, and the people +hang on his words with wonder and joy.</p> + +<p>He was converted at a Camp meeting, and sanctified +wholly in a cornfield. He learned to read; but, being +too poor to afford a light in the evening, he studied +a large-print Bible by the light of the full moon. +To-day, he has the Bible almost committed to memory, +and when he speaks he does not open the Book, but reads +his lesson from memory, and quotes proof texts from +Genesis to Revelation without mistake, and gives chapter +and verse for every quotation. When he talks his face +shines, and his speech is like honey for sweetness, +and like bullets fired from a gun for power. He is +one of the weak and foolish ones God has chosen to +confound the wise and mighty (1 Cor. i. 27).</p> + +<p>If God calls a man, He will so corroborate the call +in some way, that men may know that there is a prophet +among them. It will be with him as it was with Samuel. +“And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, +and did let none of His words fall to the ground. +And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that +Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord” +(1 Samuel iii. 19, 20).</p> + +<p>If the man himself is uncertain about the call, God +will deal patiently with him, as He did with Gideon, +to make him certain. His fleece will be wet with dew +when the earth is dry, or dry when the earth is wet; +or he will hear of some tumbling barley cake smiting +the tents of Midian, that will strengthen his faith, +and make him to know that God is with him (Judges vi. +36-40; vii. 9-15).</p> + +<p>If the door is shut and difficulties hedge the way, +God will go before the man He calls, and open the +door and sweep away the difficulties (Isaiah xlv. +2, 3).</p> + +<p>If others think the man so ignorant and unfit that +they doubt his call, God will give him such grace +or such power to win souls that they shall have to +acknowledge that God has chosen him. It was in this +way that God made a whole National Headquarters, from +the Commissioner downwards, to know that He had chosen +the elevator boy for His work. The boy got scores +of his passengers on the elevator saved, and then +he was commissioned and sent into the Field to devote +all his time to saving men.</p> + +<p>The Lord will surely let the man’s comrades +and brethren know, as surely as He did the Church +at Antioch, when “the Holy Ghost said, Separate +Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have +called them” (Acts xiii. 2).</p> + +<p>Sometimes the one who is called will try to hide it +in his heart, and then God stirs up some Officer or +minister, some Soldier or mother in Israel, to lay +a hand on his shoulders, and ask, “Are you not +called to the work?” and he finds he cannot hide +himself nor escape from the call, any more than could +Adam hide himself from God behind the trees of the +garden, or Jonah escape God’s call by taking +ship for Tarshish.</p> + +<p>Happy is the man who does not try to escape, but, +though trembling at the mighty responsibility, assumes +it, and, with all humility and faithfulness, sets +to work by prayer and patient, continuous study of +God’s word, to fit himself for God’s work. +He will need to prepare himself, for the call to the +work is also a call to preparation, continuous preparation +of the fullest possible kind.</p> + +<p>The man whom God calls cannot safely neglect or despise +the call. He will find his mission on earth, his happiness +and peace, his power and prosperity, his reward in +Heaven, and probably Heaven itself, bound up with +that call and dependent upon it. He may run away from +it, as did Jonah, and find a waiting ship to favour +his flight; but he will also find fierce storms and +bellowing seas overtaking him, and big-mouthed fishes +of trouble and disaster ready to swallow him.</p> + +<p>But if he heeds the call, and cheerfully goes where +God appoints, God will go with him; he shall nevermore +be left alone. The Holy Spirit will surely accompany +him, and he may be one of the happiest men on earth, +one of the gladdest creatures in God’s universe.</p> + +<p>“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end +of the world,” said Jesus, as He commissioned +His disciples to go to all nations and preach the +Gospel. “My presence shall go with thee,” +said Jehovah to Moses, when sending him to face Pharaoh +and free Israel, and lead them to the Promised Land.</p> + +<p>And to the boy Jeremiah, He said, “Be not afraid +of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee.... +And they shall fight against thee; but they shall +not prevail against thee; for I am with thee” +(Jeremiah i. 8, 19).</p> + +<p>I used to read these words with a great and rapturous +joy, as I realised by faith that they were also meant +for me, and for every man sent of God, and that His +blessed presence was with me every time I spoke to +the people or dealt with an individual soul, or knelt +in prayer with a penitent seeker after God; and I still +read them so.</p> + +<p>Has He called you into the work, my brother? And are +you conscious of His helpful, sympathising, loving +presence with you? If so, let no petty offence, no +hardship, nor danger, nor dread of the future, cause +you to turn aside or draw back. Stick to the work +till He calls you out, and when He so calls you can +go with open face and a heart abounding with love, +joy, and peace, and He will still go with you.</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter19"></a> +<h1>XIX.</h1> + +<h2>The Sheathed Sword: A Law of the Spirit</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Just as the moss and the oak are higher in the order +of creation than the clod of clay and the rock, the +bird and beast than the moss and the oak, the man +than the bird and the beast, so the spiritual man +is a higher being than the natural man. The sons of +God are a new order of being. The Christian is a “new +creation.” Just as there are laws governing +the life of the plant, and other and higher laws that +of the bird and beast, so there are higher laws for +man, and still higher for the Christian. It was with +regard to one of these higher laws that govern the +heavenly life of the Christian that Jesus said to +Peter, “Put up thy sword.”</p> + +<p>Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of +this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then +would My servants fight.” The natural man is +a fighter. It is the law of his carnal nature. He +fights with fist and sword, tongue and wit. His kingdom +is of this world, and he fights for it with such weapons +as this world furnishes. The Christian is a citizen +of Heaven, and is subject to its law, which is universal, +wholehearted love. In his kingdom he conquers not +by fighting, but by submitting. When an enemy takes +his coat, he overcomes him, not by going to law, but +by generously giving him his cloak also. When his +enemy compels him to go a mile with him, he vanquishes +the enemy by cheerfully going two miles with him. +When he is smitten on one cheek, he wins his foe by +meekly turning the other cheek. This is the law of +the new life from Heaven, and only by recognising and +obeying it can that new life be sustained and passed +on to others. This is the narrow way which leads to +life eternal, “and few there be that find it,” +or, finding it, are willing to walk in it.</p> + +<p>A Russian peasant, Sutajeff, could get no help from +the religious teachers of his village, so he learned +to read, and while studying the Bible he found this +narrow way, and walked gladly in it. One night neighbours +of his stole some of his grain, but in their haste +or carelessness they left a bag. He found it, and ran +after them to restore it, “for,” said he, +“fellows who have to steal must be hard up.” +And by this Christlike spirit he saved both himself +and them, for he kept the spirit of love in his own +heart, and they were converted and became his most +ardent disciples.</p> + +<p>A beggar woman, to whom he gave lodging, stole the +bedding and ran away with it. She was pursued by the +neighbours, and was just about to be put in prison +when Sutajeff appeared, became her advocate, secured +her acquittal, and gave her food and money for her +journey.</p> + +<p>He recognised the law of his new life and gladly obeyed +it, and so was not overcome of evil, but persistently +and triumphantly overcame evil with good (Romans xii. +21).</p> + +<p>This is the spirit and method of Jesus; and by men +filled with this spirit and following this method +He will yet win the world.</p> + +<p>He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, +and to give His life a ransom for many. His spirit +is not one of self-seeking, but of self-sacrifice. +Some mysterious majesty of His presence or voice so +awed and overcame His foes that they went back and +fell to the ground before Him in the Garden of His +agony, but He meekly submitted Himself to them; and +when Peter laid to with his sword, and cut off the +ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus said +to him, “Put up thy sword into the sheath; the +cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink +it?”</p> + +<p>This was the spirit of Isaac. When he digged a well, +the Philistines strove with his servants for it; so +he digged another; and when they strove for that, +he removed and digged yet another, “and for +that they strove not: and he called the name of it +Rehoboth” (margin, <i>room</i>): “and he +said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and +we shall be fruitful in the land.... And the Lord +appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the +God of Abraham, thy father: fear not, for I am with +thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed” +(Genesis xxvi. 22, 24).</p> + +<p>This was the spirit of David, when Saul was hunting +for his life; twice David could have slain him, and +when urged to do so, he said, “As the Lord liveth, +the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to +die; or he shall descend into battle and perish. The +Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against +the Lord’s anointed” (1 Samuel xxvi. 10, +11).</p> + +<p>This was the spirit of Paul. He says, “Being +reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; +being defamed, we intreat” (1 Cor. iv. 12, 13). +“The servant of the Lord must not strive,” +wrote Paul to Timothy, “but be gentle unto all +men.” This is the spirit of our King, this is +the law of His Kingdom.</p> + +<p>Is this your spirit? When you are reviled, bemeaned +and slandered, and are tempted to retort, He says +to you, “Put up thy sword into the sheath.” +When you are wronged and illtreated, and men ride +rough-shod over you, and you feel it but just to smite +back, He says, “Put up thy sword into the sheath.” +“Live peaceably with all men.” Your weapons +are not carnal, but spiritual, now that you belong +to Him, and have your citizenship in Heaven. If you +fight with the sword; if you retort and smite back +when you are wronged, you quench the Spirit; you get +out of the narrow way, and your new life from Heaven +will perish.</p> + +<p>An Officer went to a hard Corps, and after a while +found that his predecessor was sending back to friends +for money which his own Corps much needed. He felt +it to be an injustice, and, losing sight of the Spirit +of Jesus, he made a complaint about it, and the money +was returned. But he got lean in his soul. He had +quenched the Spirit. He had broken the law of the Kingdom. +He had not only refused to give his cloak, but had +fought for and secured the return of the coat. He +had lost the smile of Jesus, and his poor heart was +sad and heavy within him. He came to me with anxious +inquiry as to what I thought of his action. I had to +admit that the other man had transgressed, and that +the money ought to be returned, but that he should +have been more grieved over the unchristlike spirit +of his brother than over the loss of the five dollars, +and that like Sutajeff he should have said, “Poor +fellow! he must be hard up; I will send him five dollars +myself. He has taken my coat, he shall have my cloak +too.” When I told him that story, he came to +himself very quickly, and was soon back in the narrow +way and rejoicing in the smile of Jesus once again.</p> + +<p>“But will not people walk over us, if we do +not stand up for our rights?” you ask. I do +not argue that you are not to stand up for your rights; +but that you are to stand up for your higher rather +than your lower rights, the rights of your heavenly +life rather than your earthly life, and that you are +to stand up for your rights in the way and spirit +of Jesus rather than in the way and spirit of the +world.</p> + +<p>If men wrong you intentionally, they wrong themselves +far worse than they wrong you; and if you have the +spirit of Jesus in your heart you will pity them more +than you pity yourself. They nailed Jesus to the cross +and hung Him up to die; they gave Him gall and vinegar +to drink; they cast votes for His seamless robe, and +divided His garments between them, while the crowd +wagged their heads at Him and mocked Him. Great was +the injustice and wrong they were inflicting upon +Him, but He was not filled with anger, only pity. +He thought not of the wrong done Him, but of the wrong +they did themselves, and their sin against His Heavenly +Father, and He prayed not for judgment upon them, +but that they might be forgiven, and He won them, +and is winning and will win the world. Bless God!</p> + +<p>“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged,” +wrote Solomon. “Put up thy sword into the sheath, +“and take mercy and truth for your weapons, +and God will be with you and for you, and great shall +be your victory and joy. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter20"></a> +<h1>XX.</h1> + +<h2>Victory Through the Holy Spirit Over Suffering</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Had there been no sin our Heavenly Father would have +found other means by which to develop in us passive +virtues, and train us in the graces of meekness, patience, +long-suffering, and forbearance, which so beautify +and display the Christian character. But since sin +is here, with its contradictions and falsehoods, its +darkness, its wars, brutalities and injustices, producing +awful harvests of pain and sorrow, God, in wonderful +wisdom and lovingkindness, turns even these into instruments +by which to fashion in us beautiful graces. Storm +succeeds sunshine, and darkness the light; pain follows +hard on the heels of pleasure, while sorrow peers +over the shoulder of joy; gladness and grief, rest +and toil, peace and war, interminably intermingled, +follow each other in ceaseless succession in this +world. We cannot escape suffering while in the body. +But we can receive it with a faith that robs it of +its terror, and extracts from it richest blessing; +from the flinty rock will gush forth living waters, +and the carcase of the lion will furnish the sweetest +honey.</p> + +<p>This is so even when the suffering is a result of +our own folly or sin. It is intended not only in some +measure as a punishment, but also as a teacher, a +corrective, a remedy, a warning; and it will surely +work for good, if, instead of repining and vainly +regretting the past, we steadily look unto Jesus and +learn our lesson in patience and thankfulness.</p> + +<p> “If all the skies were sunshine,<br> + Our faces would be fain<br> + To feel once more upon them<br> + The cooling plash of rain.</p> + +<p> “If all the world were music,<br> + Our hearts would often long<br> + For one sweet strain of silence<br> + To break the endless song.</p> + +<p> “If life were always merry,<br> + Our souls would seek relief<br> + And rest from weary laughter<br> + In the quiet arms of grief.”</p> + +<p>Doubtless all our suffering is a result of sin, but +not necessarily the sin of the sufferer. Jesus was +the sinless One, but He was also the Chief of sufferers. +Paul’s great and lifelong sufferings came upon +him, not because of his sins, but rather because he +had forsaken sin, and was following Jesus in a world +of sin, and seeking the salvation of his fellows. In +this path there is no escape from suffering, though +there are hidden and unspeakable consolations. “In +the world ye shall have tribulation,” said Jesus. +“All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall +suffer persecution,” wrote Paul.</p> + +<p>Sooner or later, suffering in some form comes to each +of us. It may come through broken health, or pain +and weariness of body; or through mental anguish, +moral distress, spiritual darkness and uncertainty. +It may come through the loss of loved ones, through +betrayal by trusted friends; or through deferred or +ruined hopes, or base ingratitude; or perhaps in unrequited +toil and sacrifice and ambitions all unfulfilled. +Nothing more clearly distinguishes the man filled +with the Spirit from the man who is not than the way +each receives suffering.</p> + +<p>One with triumphant faith and shining face and strong +heart glories in tribulation, and counts it all joy. +To this class belong the Apostles, who, beaten and +threatened, “departed from the council, rejoicing +that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for +His Name” (Acts v. 41).</p> + +<p>The other with doubts and fears, murmurs and complains, +and to his other miseries adds that of a rebellious +heart and discontented mind. One sees the enemy’s +armed host, and unmixed distress and danger; the other +sees the angel of the Lord, with abundant succour +and safety (2 Kings vi. 15-17).</p> + +<p>An evangelist of my acquaintance told a story that +illustrates this. When a pastor he went one morning +to visit two sisters who were greatly afflicted. They +were about the same age, and had long been professing +Christians and members of the Church. He asked the +first one upon whom he called, “How is it with +you this morning?” “Oh, I have not slept +all night,” she replied. “I have so much +pain. It is so hard to have to lie here. I cannot see +why God deals so with me.” Evidently, she was +not filled with the Spirit, but was in a controversy +with the Lord about her sufferings, and would not +be comforted.</p> + +<p>Leaving her he called immediately upon the other sister, +and asked, “How are you to-day?” “Oh, +I had such a night of suffering!” she replied. +“Then,” said he, “there came out +upon her worn face, furrowed and pale, a beautiful +radiance, and she added, “but Jesus was so near +and helped me so, that I could suffer this way and +more, if my Father thinks best”; and on she +went with like words of cheer and triumph that made +the sick room a vestibule of glory. No lack of comfort +in her heart, for the Comforter Himself, the Holy +Spirit, had been invited and had come in. One had +the Comforter in fullness, the other had not.</p> + +<p>Probably, no man ever suffered more than Paul, but +with soldier-like fortitude he bore his heavy burdens, +faced his constant and exacting labours, endured his +sore trials, disappointments, and bitter persecutions +by fierce and relentless enemies; he stood unmoved +amid shipwrecks, stripes and imprisonments, cold, hunger, +and homelessness without a whimper that might suggest +repining or discouragement, or an appeal for pity. +Indeed, he went beyond simple uncomplaining fortitude, +and said, “we glory in tribulation” (Romans +v. 3); “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation” +(2 Cor. vii. 4); “I take pleasure in infirmities, +in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in +distresses for Christ’s sake” (2 Cor. +xii. 10). After a terrible scourging upon his bare +back, he was thrust into a loathsome inner dungeon, +his feet fast in the stocks, with worse things probably +awaiting him on the morrow. Nevertheless, we find +him and Silas, his companion in suffering, at midnight +praying and singing praises unto God (Acts xvi. 25).</p> + +<p>What is his secret? Listen to him: “Because +the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the +Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans v. +5). His prayer for his Ephesian brethren had been +answered in his own heart: “That He would grant +you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened +with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ +may dwell in your hearts by faith.” And this +inner strength and consciousness, through faith, in +an indwelling Christ enabled him to receive suffering +and trial, not stoically as the Red Indian, nor hilariously, +in a spirit of bravado, but cheerfully and with a +thankful heart.</p> + +<p>Arnold of Rugby has written something about his “most +dear and blessed sister” that illustrates the +power flowing from exhaustless fountains of inner +joy and strength through the working of the Holy Spirit. + He says:—­</p> + +<p>“I never saw a more perfect instance of the +spirit and power of love, and of a sound mind. Her +life was a daily martyrdom for twenty years, during +which she adhered to her early-formed resolution of +never talking about herself; she was thoughtful about +the very pins and ribands of my wife’s dress, +about the making of a doll’s cap for a child—­but +of herself, save only as regarded her ripening in +all goodness, wholly thoughtless, enjoying everything +lovely, graceful, beautiful, high-minded, whether +in God’s works or man’s, with the keenest +relish; inheriting the earth to the very fullness +of the promise, though never leaving her crib, nor +changing her posture; and preserved, through the very +valley of the shadow of death, from all fear or impatience, +and from every cloud of impaired reason, which might +mar the beauty of Christ’s and the Spirit’s +work.”</p> + +<p>It is not by hypnotising the soul, nor by blessing +it into a state of ecstatic insensibility, that the +Lord enables the man filled with the Spirit to thus +triumph over suffering. Rather it is by giving the +soul a sweet, constant, and unshaken assurance through +faith: First, that it is freely and fully accepted +in Christ. Second, that whatever suffering comes, +it is measured, weighed, and permitted by love infinitely +tender, and guided by wisdom that cannot err. Third, +that however difficult it may be to explain suffering +now, it is nevertheless <i>one</i> of the “all +things” which “work together for good to +them that love God,” and that in a “little +while” it will not only be swallowed up in the +ineffable blessedness and glory, but that in some way +it is actually helping to work out “a far more +exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. +iv. 7). Fourth, that though the furnace has been heated +seven times hotter than was wont, yet “the Form... +like unto the Son of God” is walking with us +in the fire; though triumphant enemies have thrust +us into the lions’ den, yet the angel of the +Lord arrived first and locked the lions’ jaws; +though foes may have formed against us sharp weapons, +yet they cannot prosper, for His shield and buckler +defend us; though all things be lost, yet “Thou +remainest”; and though “my flesh and my +heart may fail, God is the strength of my heart and +my portion for ever.”</p> + +<p>Not all God’s dear children thus triumph over +their difficulties and sufferings, but this is God’s +standard, and they may attain unto it, if, by faith, +they will open their hearts and “be filled with +the Spirit.”</p> + +<p>Here is the testimony of a Salvation Army Officer +up to date:—­</p> + +<p>“Viewed from the outside, my life as a sinner +was easy and untroubled, over which most of my friends +expressed envy; while these same friends thought my +life as a Christian full of care, toil, hardship, +and immense loss. This, however, was only an outside +view, and the real state of the case was exactly the +opposite of what they supposed. For in all the pleasure-seeking, +idleness, and freedom from responsibility of my life +apart from God, I carried an immeasurable burden of +fear, anxiety, and constantly recurring disappointment; +trifles weighed upon me, and the thought of death +haunted me with vague terrors.</p> + +<p>“But when I gave myself wholly to God, though +my lot became at once one of toil, responsibility, +comparative poverty and sacrifice, yet I could not +feel pain in any storm that broke over my head, because +of the presence of God. It was not so much that I +was insensible to trouble, as sensible of His presence +and love; and the worst trials were as nothing in +my sight, nor have been for over twenty-two years. +While as for death, it appears only as a doorway into +more abundant life, and I can alter an old German +hymn, and sing with joy:</p> + +<p> “‘Oh, how my heart with rapture +dances.<br> + To think my dying hour advances!<br> + Then, Lord, with Thee!<br> + My Lord, with Thee!’”</p> + +<p>This is faith’s triumph over the worst the world +can offer through the blessed fullness of the indwelling +Comforter. Bless His Name!</p> + +<p> “Here speaks the Comforter, Light +of the straying,<br> + Hope of the penitent, Advocate sure,<br> + Joy of the desolate, tenderly saying,<br> + ‘Earth has no sorrow My grace +cannot cure.’”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter21"></a> +<h1>XXI.</h1> + +<h2>The Overflowing Blessing</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>The children of Israel were instructed by Moses to +give tithes of all they had to the Lord, and in return +God promised to richly bless them, making their fields +and vineyards fruitful and causing their flocks and +herds to safely multiply. But they became covetous +and unbelieving, and began to rob God by withholding +their tithes, and then God began to withhold His blessing +from them.</p> + +<p>But still God loved and pitied them, and sent to them +again and again by His prophets; and finally by the +prophet Malachi He said: “Bring ye all the tithes +into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine +house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of +Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, +and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not +be room enough to receive it” (Malachi iii. +10).</p> + +<p>He promised to make their barns overflow, if they +would be faithful, if they would pay their tithes +and discharge their obligations to Him.</p> + +<p>Now, this overflow of barns and granaries is a type +of overflowing hearts and lives when we give ourselves +fully to God, and the blessed Holy Ghost comes in, +and Jesus becomes all and in all to us. The blessing +is too big to contain, but just bursts out and overflows +through the life, the looks, the conversation, the +very tones of the voice, and gladdens and refreshes +and purifies wherever it goes. Jesus calls it “rivers +of living water” (John vii. 38).</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>love</i>. Sin brings in +an overflow of hate, so that the world is filled with +wars and murders, slanders, oppression, and selfishness. +But this blessing causes love to overflow. Schools, +colleges, and hospitals are built; shelters, rescue +homes, and orphanages are opened; even war itself +is in some measure humanised by the Red Cross Society +and Christian commissions. Sinners love their own, +but this blessing makes us to love all men—­strangers, +the heathen, and even our enemies.</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>peace</i>. It settles old +quarrels and grudges. It makes a different atmosphere +in the home. The children know it when father and +mother get the Comforter. Kindly words and sweet goodwill +take the place of bitterness and strife. I suspect +that even the dumb beasts realise the overflow.</p> + +<p>I heard a laughable story of a man whose cow would +switch her tail in his face, and then kick over the +pail when he was milking her, after which he would +always give her a beating with the stool on which +he sat. But he got the blessing, and his heart was +overflowing with peace. The next morning he went to +milk that cow, and when the pail was nearly full, +swish! came the tail in his face, and with a vicious +kick she knocked over the pail, and then ran across +the barn-yard. The blessed man picked up the empty +pail and stool and went over to the cow, which stood +trembling, awaiting the usual kicks and beating; but +instead he patted her gently, and said, “You +may kick over that pail as often as you please, but +I am not going to beat you any more”; and the +cow seemed to understand, for she dropped her head +and quietly began to eat, and never kicked again! +That story is good enough to be true, and I doubt +not it is, for certainly when the Comforter comes +a great peace fills the heart and overflows through +all the life.</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>joy</i>. It makes the face +to shine; it glances from the eye, and bubbles out +in thanksgiving and praise. You never can tell when +one who has the blessing will shout out, “Glory +to God! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Amen!”</p> + +<p>I have sometimes seen a whole congregation wakened +up and refreshed and made glad by the joyous overflow +from one clean-hearted soul. A Salvation Soldier +or Officer with an overflow of genuine joy is worth +a whole company of ordinary folks. He is a host within +himself, and is a living proof of the text, “The +joy of the Lord is your strength.”</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>patience</i> and <i>long-suffering.</i> +A man got this blessing, and his wicked wife was so +enraged that she left him, and went across the way +and lived as the wife of his unmarried brother. He +was terribly tempted to take his gun and go over and +kill them both. But he prayed about it, and the Lord +gave him the patience and long-suffering of Jesus, +who bears long with the backslider who leaves Him and +joins himself with the world; and he continued to treat +them with the utmost kindness, as though they had +done him no wrong. Some people might say the man was +weak, but I should say he was unusually “strong +in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and a +neighbour of his told me that all his neighbours believed +in his religion.</p> + +<p>There is an overflow of <i>goodness</i> and <i>generosity</i>. +I read the other day of a poor man who supports eight +workers in the foreign mission field. When asked how +he did it, he replied that he wore celluloid collars, +did his own washing, denied himself, and managed his +affairs in order to do it.</p> + +<p>Do you ask, “How can I get such a blessing?” +You will get it by bringing in all the tithes, by +giving yourself in love and obedience and wholehearted, +joyous consecration to Jesus, as a true bride gives +herself to her husband. Do not try to bargain with +the Lord and buy it of Him, but wait on Him in never-give-in +prayer and confident expectation, and He will give +it to you. And then you must not hold it selfishly +for your own gratification, but let it overflow to +the hungry, thirsty, fainting world about you. God +bless you even now, and do for you exceeding abundantly +above all you ask or think!</p> + +<p>A comrade went from one of my meetings recently with +a heart greatly burdened for the blessing, and for +two or three days and nights did little else but read +the Bible, and pray and cry to God for a clean heart +filled with the Spirit. At last the Comforter came, +and with Him fullness of peace and joy and soul-rest, +and that day this comrade led a number of others into +the blessing. Hallelujah! “If ye then, being +evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, +how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the +Holy Spirit to them that ask Him” (Luke xi. 13). +“<i>Ask,... seek,... knock</i>.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter22"></a> +<h1>XXII.</h1> + +<h2>Importance of the Doctrine and Experience of Holiness to Spiritual Leaders</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>A mighty man inspires and trains other men to be mighty. +We wonder and exclaim often at the slaughter of Goliath +by David, and we forget that David was the forerunner +of a race of fearless, invincible warriors and giant-killers.</p> + +<p>If we would in this light but study and remember the +story of David’s mighty men, it would be most +instructive to us.</p> + +<p>Moses inspired a tribe of cowering, toiling, sweat-begrimed, +spiritless slaves to lift up their heads, straighten +their backs, and throw off the yoke; and he led them +forth with songs of victory and shouts of triumph +from under the mailed hand and iron bondage of Pharaoh. +He fired them with a national spirit, and welded and +organised them into a distinct and compact people that +could be hurled with resistless power against the walled +cities and trained warriors of Canaan.</p> + +<p>But what was the secret of David and Moses? Whence +the superiority of these men? David was only a stripling +shepherd-boy when he immortalised himself. What was +his secret? To be sure, Moses was “instructed +in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,” and, doubtless, +had been trained in all the civil, military, and scientific +learning of his day, but he was so weak in himself +that he feared and fled at the first word of questioning +and disparagement that he heard (Exodus ii. 14), and +spent the next forty years feeding sheep for another +man in the rugged wilderness of Sinai. What, then, +was his secret?</p> + +<p>Doubtless, they were men cast in a kinglier mould +than most men; but their secret was not in themselves.</p> + +<p>Joseph Parker declared that great lives are built +on great promises, and so they are. These men had +so far humbled themselves that they found God. They +got close to Him, and He spoke to them. He gave them +promises. He revealed His way and truth to them, and +trusting Him, believing His promises, and fashioning +their lives according to His truth—­His doctrine—­ +everything else followed. They became “workers +together with God,” heroes of faith, leaders +of men, builders of empire, teachers of the race, +and, in an important sense, saviours of mankind.</p> + +<p>Their secret is an open one; it is the secret of every +truly successful spiritual leader from then till now, +and there is no other way to success in spiritual +leadership.</p> + +<p>1. They had an <i>experience</i>. They <i>knew God</i>.</p> + +<p>2. This experience, this acquaintance with God, was +<i>maintained</i> and deepened and broadened in obedience +to God’s teaching, or truth, or doctrine.</p> + +<p>3. They patiently yet urgently <i>taught others</i> +what they themselves had learned, and declared, so +far as they saw it, the whole counsel of God.</p> + +<p>They were abreast of the deepest experiences and fullest +revelations God had yet made to men. They were leaders, +not laggards. They were not in the rear of the procession +of God’s warriors and saints; they were in the +forefront.</p> + +<p>Here we discover the importance of the doctrine and +experience of holiness through the baptism of the +Holy Spirit to Salvation Army leaders. We are to know +God and glorify Him and reveal Him to men. We are +to finish the work of Jesus, and “fill up that +which is behind of the sufferings of Christ” +(Col. i. 24). We are to rescue the slaves of sin, +to make a people, to fashion them into a holy nation, +and inspire and lead them forth to save the world. +How can we do this? Only by being in the forefront +of God’s spiritual hosts; not in name and in +titles only, but in reality; by being in glad possession +of the deepest experiences God gives, and the fullest +revelations He makes to men.</p> + +<p>The astonishing military and naval successes of the +Japanese are said to be due to their profound study, +clear understanding, and firm grasp of the theory, +the principles, the doctrines of war; their careful +and minute preparation of every detail of their campaigns; +the scientific accuracy and precision with which they +carry out all their plans, and their splendid and utter +personal devotion to their cause.</p> + +<p>Our war is far more complex and desperate than theirs, +and its issues are infinitely more far-reaching, and +we must equip ourselves for it; and nothing is so +vital to our cause as a mastery of the doctrine and +an assured and joyous possession of the Pentecostal +experience of holiness through the indwelling Spirit.</p> + +<p>I. <i>The Doctrine.</i>—­What is the teaching +of God’s word about holiness?</p> + +<p>1. If we carefully study God’s word, we find +that He wants His people to be holy, and the making +of a holy people, after the pattern of Jesus, is the +crowning work of the Holy Spirit. He commands us to +“cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the +flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of +the Lord” (2 Cor. vii. 1). It is prayed that +we may “increase and abound in love one toward +another, and toward all men... to the end He may stablish +your hearts unblameable in holiness before God” +(1 Thess. iii. 12, 13). He says: “As He which +hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner +of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy, +for I am holy” (1 Peter i. 15, 16). And in the +most earnest manner we are exhorted to “follow +peace with all men, and holiness, without which no +man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews xii. 14).</p> + +<p>2. As we further study the word, we discover that +holiness is more than simple freedom from condemnation +for wrong-doing. A helpless invalid lying on his bed +of sickness, unable to do anything wrong, may be free +from the condemnation of actual wrong-doing, and yet +it may be in his heart to do all manner of evil. Holiness +on its negative side is a state of heart purity; it +is heart cleanness—­cleanness of thought +and temper and disposition, cleanness of intention +and purpose and wish; it is a state of freedom from +all sin, both inward and outward (Romans vi. 18). +On the positive side it is a state of union with God +in Christ, in which the whole man becomes a temple +of God and filled with the fruit of the Spirit, which +is “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, +goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” It is +moral and spiritual sympathy and harmony with God in +the holiness of His nature.</p> + +<p>We must not, however, confound purity with maturity. +Purity is a matter of the heart, and is secured by +an instantaneous act of the Holy Spirit; maturity +is largely a matter of the head and results from growth +in knowledge and experience. In one, the heart is +made clean, and is filled with love; in the other, +the head is gradually corrected and filled with light, +and so the heart is enlarged and more firmly established +in faith; consequently, the experience deepens and +becomes stronger and more robust in every way. It +is for this reason that we need teachers after we +are sanctified, and to this end we are exhorted to +humbleness of mind.</p> + +<p>Importance of the Doctrine.</p> + +<p>With a heart full of sympathy and love for his father +my little boy may voluntarily go into the garden to +weed the vegetables; but, being yet ignorant, lacking +light in his head, he pulls up my sweet corn with +the grass and weeds. His little heart glows with pleasure +and pride in the thought that he is “helping +papa,” and yet he is doing the very thing I +don’t want him to do. But if I am a wise and +patient father, I shall be pleased with him; for what +is the loss of my few stalks of corn compared to the +expression and development of his love and loyalty? +And I shall commend him for the love and faithful +purpose of his little heart, while I patiently set +to work to enlighten the darkness of his little head. +His heart is pure toward his father, but he is not +yet mature. In this matter of light and maturity holy +people often widely differ, and this causes much perplexity +and needless and unwise anxiety. In the fourteenth +chapter of Romans, Paul discusses and illustrates +the principle underlying this distinction between +purity and maturity.</p> + +<p>3. As we continue to study the word under the illumination +of the Spirit, who is given to lead us into all truth, +we further learn that holiness is not a state which +we reach in conversion. The Apostles were converted, +they had forsaken all to follow Jesus (Matthew xix. +27-29), their names were written in Heaven (Luke x. +20), and yet they were not holy. They doubted and feared, +and again and again were they rebuked for the slowness +and littleness of their faith. They were bigoted, +and wanted to call down fire from Heaven to consume +those who would not receive Jesus (Luke ix. 51-56); +they were frequently contending among themselves as +to which should be the greatest, and when the supreme +test came they all forsook Him and fled. Certainly, +they were not only afflicted with darkness in their +heads, but, far worse, carnality in their hearts; +they were His, and they were very dear to Him, but +they were not yet holy, they were yet impure of heart.</p> + +<p>Paul makes this point very clear in his Epistle to +the Corinthians. He tells them plainly that they were +yet only babes in Christ, because they were carnal +and contentious (I Cor. iii. I). They were in Christ, +they had been converted, but they were not holy.</p> + +<p>It is of great importance that we keep this truth +well in mind that men may be truly converted, may +be babes in Christ, and yet not be pure in heart; +we shall then sympathise more fully with them, and +see the more clearly how to help them and guide their +feet into the way of holiness and peace.</p> + +<p>Those who hold that we are sanctified wholly in conversion +will meet with much to perplex them in their converts, +and are not intelligently equipped to bless and help +God’s little children.</p> + +<p>4. A continued study of God’s teaching on this +subject will clearly reveal to us that purity of heart +is obtained after we are converted. Peter makes this +very plain in his address to the Council in Jersualem, +where he recounts the outpouring of the Holy Spirit +upon Cornelius and his household. After mentioning +the gift of the Holy Ghost, he adds, “and put +no difference between us and them, purifying their +hearts by faith” (Acts xv. 9). Among other things, +then, the baptism of the Holy Ghost purifies the heart; +but the disciples were converted before they received +this Pentecostal experience, so we see that heart +purity, or holiness, is a work wrought in us after +conversion.</p> + +<p>Again, we notice that Peter says, “purifying +their hearts by faith.” If it is by faith, then +it is not by growth, nor by works, nor by death, nor +by purgatory after death. It is God’s work. +He purifies the heart, and He does it for those, and +only those who, devoting all their possessions and +powers to Him, seek Him by simple, prayerful, obedient, +expectant, unwavering faith through His Son our Saviour.</p> + +<p>Unless we grasp these truths, and hold them firmly, +we shall not be able to “rightly divide the +word of truth,” we shall hardly be “workmen +that need not be ashamed, approved unto God” +(2 Tim. ii. 15). Some one has written that “the +searcher in science knows that if he but stumble in +his hypothesis—­that if he but let himself +be betrayed into prejudice or undue leaning toward +a pet theory, or anything but absolute uprightness +of mind—­his whole work will be stultified +and he will fail ignominiously. To get anywhere in +science he must follow truth with absolute rectitude.”</p> + +<p>THE HOLY SPIRIT.</p> + +<p>And is there not a science of salvation, of holiness, +of eternal life, that requires the same absolute loyalty +to “the Spirit of Truth”? How infinitely +important, then, that we know what that truth is, +that we may understand and hold that doctrine.</p> + +<p>A friend of mine who finished his course with joy, +and was called into the presence of his Lord to receive +his crown some time ago, has pointed out some mistakes +which we must carefully avoid. Here they are:—­</p> + +<p>“It is a great mistake to substitute repentance +for Bible consecration. The people whom Paul exhorted +to full sanctification were those who had turned from +their idols to serve the living and true God, and +to wait for His Son sent down from Heaven (I Thess. +i. 9, 10; iii. 10-13; v. 23).</p> + +<p>“Only people who are citizens of His kingdom +can claim His sanctifying power. Those who still have +idols to renounce may be candidates for conversion, +but not for the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire.</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake in consecration to suppose +that the person making it has anything of his own +to give. We are not our own, but we are bought with +a price, and consecration is simply taking our hands +off from God’s property. To wilfully withhold +anything from God is to be a God-robber.</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake to substitute a mere mental +assent to God’s proprietorship and right to +all we have, while withholding complete devotion to +Him. This is theoretical consecration—­a +rock on which we fear multitudes are being wrecked. +Consecration which does not embrace the crucifixion +of self and the funeral of all false ambitions is +not the kind which will bring the Holy Fire. A consecration +is imperfect which does not embrace the speaking faculty” +(the tongue), “and the believing faculty” +(the heart), “the imagination, and every power +of mind, soul, and body, and give all absolutely and +for ever into the hands of Jesus, turning a deaf ear +to every opposing voice.</p> + +<p>“Reader, have you made such a consecration as +this? It must embrace all this, or it will prove a +bed of quicksand to sink your soul, instead of a full +salvation balloon, which will safely bear you above +the fog and malaria and turmoil of the world, where +you can triumphantly sing:</p> + +<p> “’I rise to float in realms +of light,<br> + Above the world and +sin.<br> + With heart made pure and garments +white,<br> + And Christ enthroned +within.’</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake to teach seekers to ‘only +believe,’ without complete abandonment to God +at every point, for they can no more do it than an +anchored ship can sail.</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake to substitute mere verbal assent +for obedient trust. ‘Only believe’ is +a fatal snare to all who fall into these traps.</p> + +<p>“It is a mistake to believe that the altar sanctifies +the gift without the assurance that all is on the +altar. If even the end of your tongue, or one cent +of your money, or a straw’s weight of false +ambition, or spirit of dictation, or one ounce of your +reputation, or will, or believing powers be left off +the altar, you can no more believe than a bird without +wings can fly.</p> + +<p>“‘Only believe’ is only for those +seekers of holiness who are truly converted, fully +consecrated, and crucified to everything but the whole +will of God. Teachers who apply this to people who +have not yet reached these stations need themselves +to be taught. All who have reached them may believe, +and if they do believe, may look God in the face, +and triumphantly sing:</p> + +<p> “’The blood, the blood is +all my plea,<br> + Hallelujah, for it cleanseth me.’”</p> + +<p>II. <i>The Experience</i>.—­Simply to be +skilled in the doctrine is not sufficient for us as +leaders. We may be as orthodox as St. Paul himself, +and yet be only as “sounding brass and clanging +cymbals,” unless we are rooted in the blessed +experience of holiness. If we would save ourselves +and them that follow us, if we would make havoc of +the Devil’s kingdom and build up God’s +kingdom, we must not only know and preach the truth, +but we must be living examples of the saving and sanctifying +power of the truth. We are to be “living epistles, +known and read of all men”; we must be able +to say with Paul, “follow me as I follow Christ”; +and “those things which ye learned and received +and heard and saw in me, do; and the God of peace +shall be with you.”</p> + +<p>We must not forget that—­</p> + +<p>1. We are ourselves simple Christians, individual +souls struggling for eternal life and liberty, and +we must by all means save ourselves. To this end we +must be holy, else we shall at last experience the +awful woe of those who, having preached to others, +are yet themselves castaways.</p> + +<p>2. We are leaders upon whom multitudes depend. It +is a joy and an honour to be a leader, but it is also +a grave responsibility. James says: “We shall +receive the heavier judgment” (James iii. i, +R.V.). How unspeakable shall be our blessedness, and +how vast our reward, if, wise in the doctrine, and +rich and strong and clean in the experience of holiness, +we lead our people into their full heritage in Jesus! +But how terrible shall be our condemnation, and how +great our loss, if, in spiritual slothfulness and +unbelief, we stop short of the experience ourselves +and leave them to perish for want of the gushing waters +and heavenly food and Divine direction we should have +brought them! We need the experience for ourselves, +and we need it for our work and for our people.</p> + +<p>What the roof is to a house, that the doctrine is +to our system of truth. It completes it. What sound +and robust health is to our bodies, that the experience +is to our souls. It makes us every whit whole, and +fits us for all duty. Sweep away the doctrine, and +the experience will soon be lost. Lose the experience, +and the doctrine will surely be neglected, if not +attacked and denied. No man can have the heart, even +if he has the head, to fully and faithfully and constantly +preach the doctrine unless he has the experience.</p> + +<p>Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and as +this doctrine deals with the deepest things of the +Spirit, it is only clearly understood and is best +recommended, explained, defended, and enforced by +those who have the experience.</p> + +<p>Without the experience, the presentation of the doctrine +will be faulty and cold and lifeless, or weak and +vacillating, or harsh and sharp and severe. With the +experience, the preaching of the doctrine will be +with great joy and assurance, and will be strong and +searching, but at the same time warm and persuasive +and tender.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the shock of mingled surprise +and amusement and grief with which I heard a Captain +loudly announce in one of my meetings many years ago +that he was “going to preach holiness now,” +and his people “have to get it,” if he +had to “ram it down their throats.” Poor +fellow! He did not possess the experience himself, +and never pressed into it and soon forsook his people.</p> + +<p>A man in the clear experience of the blessing will +never think of “ramming” it down people; +but will, with much secret prayer, constant meditation +and study, patient instruction, faithful warning, +loving persuasion, and burning, joyful testimony, seek +to lead them into that entire and glad consecration +and that fullness of faith that never fail to receive +the blessing.</p> + +<p>Again, the most accurate and complete knowledge of +the doctrine, and the fullest possession of the experience, +will fail us at last unless we carefully guard ourselves +at several points, and unless we watch and pray.</p> + +<p>3. We must not judge ourselves so much by our feelings +as by our volitions. It is not my feelings, but the +purpose of my heart, the attitude of my will, that +God looks at, and it is that to which I must look. +“If our heart condemns us not, then have we +confidence toward God.” A friend of mine who +had firmly grasped this thought, and walked continually +with God, used to testify: “I am just as good +when I don’t feel good as when I do feel good.” +Another mighty man of God said that all the feeling +he needed to enable him to trust God was the consciousness +that he was fully submitted to all the known will +of God.</p> + +<p>We must not forget that the Devil is “the accuser +of the brethren” (Rev. xii. 10), and that he +seeks to turn our eyes away from Jesus, who is our +Surety and our Advocate, to ourselves, our feelings, +our infirmities, our failures; and if he succeeds in +this, gloom will fill us, doubts and fears will spring +up within us, and we shall soon fail and fall. We +must be wise as the conies, and build our nest in +the cleft of the Rock of Ages. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>4. We must not divorce conduct from character, or +works from faith. Our lives must square with our teaching. +We must live what we preach. We must not suppose that +faith in Jesus excuses us from patient, faithful, +laborious service. We must “live by every word +that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”; that +is, we must fashion our lives, our conduct, our conversation +by the principles laid down in His word, remembering +His searching saying, “Not every one that saith +unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom +of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father +which is in Heaven.”</p> + +<p>This subject of faith and works is very fully discussed +by James (chap. ii. 14-26), and Paul is very clear +in his teaching that, while God saves us not by our +works, but by His mercy through faith, yet it is that +we may “maintain good work” (Titus iii. +14); and “we are His workmanship, created in +Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before +ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. +ii. 8-10).</p> + +<p>Faith must “work by love,” and emotion +must be transmitted into action, and joy must lead +to work, and love to faithful, self-sacrificing service, +else they become a kind of pleasant and respectable, +but none the less deadly, debauchery, and at last +ruin us.</p> + +<p>5. However blessed and satisfactory our present experience +may be, we must not rest in it, but remember that +our Lord has yet many things to say unto us, as we +are able to receive them. We must stir up the gift +of God that is in us, and say with Paul, “One +thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, +and stretching forward” (as a racer) “to +the things which are before, I press on toward the +goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in +Christ Jesus” (Phil. iii. 13, 14, R.V.). It is +at this point that many fail. They seek the Lord, +they weep and struggle and pray, and then they believe; +but, instead of pressing on, they sit down to enjoy +the blessing, and, lo! it is not. The children of +Israel must needs follow the pillar of cloud and fire. +It made no difference when it moved—­by day +or by night, they followed; and when the Comforter +comes we must follow, if we would abide in Him and +be filled with all the fullness of God. And, Oh, the +joy of following Him!</p> + +<p>Finally, if we have the blessing—­not the +harsh, narrow, unprogressive exclusiveness which often +calls itself by the sweet, heavenly term of holiness, +but the vigorous, courageous, self-sacrificing, tender, +Pentecostal experience of perfect love —­we +shall both save ourselves and enlighten the world, +our converts will be strong, our Candidates for the +work will multiply, and will be able, dare-devil men +and women, and our people will come to be like the +brethren of Gideon, of whom it was said, “Each +one resembled the children of a king.”</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?”</p> + +<a name="chapter23"></a> +<h1>XXIII.</h1> + +<h2>Victory Over Evil Temper by the Power of the Holy Spirit</h2> + +<p align="center">“Ye shall receive power after that the Holy +Ghost is come upon you.”</p> + +<p>Two letters recently reached me, one from Oregon, +and one from Massachusetts, inquiring if I thought +it possible to have temper destroyed. The comrade +from Oregon wrote: “I have been wondering if +the statement is correct when one says, ’My temper +is all taken away.’ Do you think the temper +is destroyed or sanctified? It seems to me that if +one’s temper were actually gone he would not +be good for anything.”</p> + +<p>The comrade from Massachusetts wrote: “Two of +our Corps Cadets have had the question put to them: +’Is it possible to have all temper taken out +of our hearts?’ One claims it is possible. The +other holds that the temper is not taken out, but God +gives power to overcome it.”</p> + +<p>Evidently these are questions that perplex many people, +and yet the answer seems to me simple.</p> + +<p>Temper, <i>as usually spoken of</i>, is not a faculty +or power of the soul, but is rather an irregular, +passionate, violent expression of selfishness. When +selfishness is destroyed by love, by the incoming +of the Holy Spirit, revealing Jesus to us as an uttermost +Saviour, and creating within us a clean heart, of +course such evil temper is gone, just as the friction +and consequent wear and heat of two wheels is gone +when the cogs are perfectly adjusted to each other. +The wheels are far better off without friction, and +just so man is far better off without such temper.</p> + +<p>We do not destroy the wheels to get rid of the friction, +but we readjust them; that is, we put them into just +or right relations to each other, and then noiselessly +and perfectly they do their work. So, strictly speaking, +sanctification does not destroy self, but it destroys +selfishness—­the abnormal and mean and dis-ordered +manifestation and assertion of self. I myself am to +be sanctified, rectified, purified, brought into harmony +with God’s will as revealed in His word, and +united to Him in Jesus, so that His life of holiness +and love flows continually through all the avenues +of my being, as the sap of the vine flows through all +parts of the branch. “I am the Vine, ye are the +branches,” said Jesus.</p> + +<p>When a man is thus filled with the Holy Spirit he +is not made into a putty man, a jelly fish, with all +powers of resistance taken out of him; he does not +have any less force and “push” and “go” +than before, but rather more, for all his natural energy +is now reinforced by the Holy Spirit, and turned into +channels of love and peace instead of hate and strife.</p> + +<p>He may still feel indignation in the presence of wrong, +but it will not be rash, violent, explosive, and selfish, +as before he was sanctified, but calm and orderly, +and holy, and determined, like that of God. It will +be the wholesome, natural antagonism of holiness and +righteousness to all unrighteousness and evil.</p> + +<p>Such a man will feel it when he is wronged, but it +will be much in the same way that he feels when others +are wronged. The personal, selfish element will be +absent. At the same time there will be pity and compassion +and yearning love for the wrong-doer and a greater +desire to see him saved than to see him punished.</p> + +<p>A sanctified man was walking down the street the other +day with his wife, when a filthy fellow on a passing +wagon insulted her with foul words. Instantly the +temptation came to the man to want to get hold of +him and punish him, but as instantly the indwelling +Comforter whispered, “If ye will forgive men +their trespasses;” and instantly the clean heart +of the man responded, “I will, I do forgive +him, Lord;” and instead of anger a great love +filled his soul, and instead of hurling a brick or +hot words at the poor Devil-deceived sinner, he sent +a prayer to God in Heaven for him. There was no friction +in his soul. He was perfectly adjusted to his Lord; +his heart was perfectly responsive to his Master’s +word, and he could rightly say, “My temper is +gone.”</p> + +<p>A man must have his spiritual eyes wide open to discern +the difference between sinful temper and righteous +indignation.</p> + +<p>Many a man wrongs and robs himself by calling his +fits of temper “righteous indignation;” +while, on the other hand, there is here and there +a timid soul who is so afraid of sinning through temper +as to suppress the wholesome antagonism that righteousness, +to be healthy and perfect, must express towards all +unrighteousness and sin.</p> + +<p>It takes the keen-edged word of God, applied by the +Holy Spirit, to cut away unholy temper without destroying +righteous antagonism; to enable a man to hate and +fight sin with spiritual weapons (2 Cor. x. 3-5), +while pitying and loving the sinner; to so fill him +with the mind of Jesus that he will feel as badly over +a wrong done to a stranger as though it were done +to himself; to help him to put away the personal feeling +and be as calm and unselfish and judicial in opposing +wrong as is the judge upon the bench. Into this state +of heart and mind is one brought who is entirely sanctified +by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!</p> + +<p>Dr. Asa Mahan, the friend and co-worker of Finney, +had a quick and violent temper in his youth and young +manhood; but one day he believed, and God sanctified +him, and for fifty years he said he never felt but +one uprising of temper, and that was but for an instant, +about five years after he received the blessing. For +the following forty-five years, though subjected to +many trials and provocations, he felt only love and +peace and patience and good-will in his heart.</p> + +<p>A Christian woman was confined to her bed for years +with nervous and other troubles, and was very cross +and touchy and petulant. At last she became convinced +that the Lord had a better experience for her, and +she began to pray for a clean heart full of patient, +holy, humble love; and she prayed so earnestly, so +violently, that her family became alarmed lest she +should wear her poor, frail body out in her struggle +for spiritual freedom. But she told them she was determined +to have the blessing, if it cost her her life, and +so she continued to pray, until one glad, sweet day +the Comforter came; her heart was purified, and from +that day forth, in spite of the fact that she was still +a nervous invalid, suffering constant pain, she never +showed the least sign of temper or impatience, but +was full of meekness, and patient, joyous thankfulness.</p> + +<p> “Love took up the harp of life, +and smote on all<br> + the chords with might—­<br> + Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, +passed in<br> + music out of sight.”</p> + +<p>Such is the experience of one in whom Jesus lives +without a rival, and in whom grace has wrought its +perfect work.</p> + +<p>“No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed +of gold, not drunkenness itself, does more to un-Christianise +society than evil temper,” says a distinguished +and thoughtful writer.</p> + +<p>If this be true, it must be God’s will that +we be saved from it. And it is provided for in the +uttermost salvation that Jesus offers.</p> + +<p>Do you want this blessing, my brother, my sister? +If so, be sure of this: God has not begotten such +a desire in your heart to mock you; you may have it. +God is able to do even this for you. With man it is +impossible, but not with God. Look at Him just now +for it. It is His work, His gift. Look at your past +failures, and acknowledge them; look at your present +and future difficulties, count them up and face them +every one, and admit that they are more than you can +hope to conquer; but then look at the dying Son of +God, your Saviour—­the Man with the seamless +robe, the crown of thorns, and the nail-prints; look +at the fountain of His Blood; look at His word; look +at the Almighty Holy Ghost, who will dwell within +you, if you but trust and obey, and cry out: “It +shall be done! The mountain shall become a plain; the +impossible shall become possible. Hallelujah!” +Quietly, intelligently, abandon yourself to the Holy +Spirit just now in simple, glad, obedient faith, and +the blessing shall be yours. Glory to God!</p> + +<p class="smallcaps">“Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?</p> + + +<pre> +End of Project Gutenberg's When the Holy Ghost is Come, by Col. S. L. Brengle + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE HOLY GHOST IS COME *** + +This file should be named whlgh10h.htm or whlgh10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, whlgh11h.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, whlgh10ha.txt + +Produced by Curtis A. Weyant, Charles Franks, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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